Donald Trump has said the ceasefire with Iran “is over” after it came under increasing strain with new US strikes overnight.
The president said ahead of Wednesday’s Nato summit in Turkey that it was “a waste of time” dealing with the Iranians and called them “sick people”.
His comments came after US forces launched a wave of strikes on Iranian targets in response to Tehran’s targeting of commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran subsequently said it had retaliated with strikes against US positions in Bahrain and Kuwait.
The attacks came just hours after Washington also pulled Tehran’s license to sell oil, which was only issued last month following an interim ceasefire deal.
The Strait remains a flashpoint in the fragile truce, having sparked a previous exchange of fire between the two sides after a cargo ship was struck, threatening the agreement aimed at ending the war.
Trump was asked about the state of the initial ceasefire deal between the two parties, known as the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), in Ankara on Wednesday morning.
He told reporters: “I think it’s over. I don’t want to deal with them any more. They’re scum. You know what scum is? They’re scum.
“They’re sick people. They’re led by sick people, and they’re vicious, violent people. And if they had a nuclear weapon, they’d use it.
“As far as I’m concerned, it’s over. I’ll speak to our negotiators. They want to negotiate … But they have to come back to me. As far as I’m concerned, it’s just a waste of time dealing with them.”
Sitting alongside Mr Trump, Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte told him: “I think what you did last night was absolutely necessary. It was a very strong response.”
Earlier, Mr Rutte told reporters: “When you have a ceasefire and Iran is basically violating the ceasefire… I think it is totally crucial that the US forcefully reacts.”
Oil prices jumped by more than 6 per cent into Wednesday, as Trump’s comments raised concerns that the wider conflict in the Middle East could restart.
In a statement on X early on Wednesday, the American military said: “US Central Command (Centcom) forces completed a new round of offensive strikes against Iran, July 7, hitting over 80 targets with precision munitions as an immediate response to Iran’s latest attacks on commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
“US forces struck Iranian air defence systems, command and control networks, coastal radar sites, anti-ship missile capabilities, and more than 60 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps small boats in and near the strait to degrade Iran’s ability to continue attacking international commerce flowing through the international trade corridor.
“Iran recently attacked three commercial vessels transiting the strait, including Marshall Islands-flagged M/T Al Rekayyat, Saudi Arabia-flagged M/T Wedyan, and Liberian-flagged M/T Cyprus Prosperity.”
The statement said the “unwarranted aggression by Iranian forces” marked a “clear and dangerous violation of the ceasefire and undermines freedom of navigation”, adding: “Centcom forces remain postured and prepared to hold Iran accountable when the agreement is not adhered to or obeyed.”
Bahrain, which is home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, and Kuwait, where US Army personnel are also based, sounded missile alerts early on Wednesday.
A statement by the IRGC confirming strikes on military sites in their neighbouring countries said the “child-killing and terrorist US Army” had “openly violated the ceasefire” with attacks on coastal bases and civilian stations.
Following the US strikes, Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf accused the US of committing “major” violations of the ceasefire deal.
In a post on X, he said the violations included “persistent threats of further strikes”, “reinstating oil sanctions” and “attacks on southern Iran”.
“The era of bullying and extortion is over. It leads nowhere. We don’t fold,” Ghalibaf added.
Three civilian vessels were hit in the strait on Tuesday – the most in a single day since late April, according to UN International Maritime Organisation figures.
In response, maritime authorities have raised the threat level from “substantial” to “severe”.
The renewed hostilities threaten to again disrupt shipping transiting the Gulf channel and cause difficulties in securing a permanent end to the conflict, launched by the US and Israel on February 28.
Meanwhile, tensions have been running high in Iran with the holding of funeral ceremonies for the former supreme leader, former Iranian Supreme Leader, the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the opening attack of the war.
Ending Tehran’s stranglehold on the Strait, which disrupted global oil and gas supplies and drove up fuel and food prices, had been a key demand in previous negotiations.
However, the initial deal reached between the US and Iran only secures safe, toll-free passage of the waterway for 60 days, pending the outcome of a final agreement on Tehran’s disputed nuclear plans.
The pact also leaves it to Iran and Oman, in conjunction with other Gulf states, to “define the future administration and maritime services in the Strait of Hormuz”.
In the meantime, Iran has continued to try to exert leverage over the channel, including demanding ships seek permission to transit and raising the spectre of future charges.
This has included claims by Tehran that only it is permitted to carry out mine clearance in the strait under the terms of the interim agreement, after Oman agreed to work with Britain and France to make sure the sea route remained open.
The two allies have been at the forefront of a proposed international mission to protect and reassure vessels using the waterway once hostilities are over.
But Iran warned that the involvement of any other country in the channel would amount to a provocation.
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