Mr. Trump: ‘The ceasefire with Iran is over’

The US President announced that the ceasefire with Iran has ended, after the latest firefight between the two countries near the Strait of Hormuz.

“Negotiating with them is just a waste of time,” US President Donald Trump said on July 8 at the NATO summit in Ankara, Türkiye, when asked whether the ceasefire agreement with Iran was still valid or not. “I think the memorandum of understanding signed with Iran has ended.”

Mr. Trump used harsh language to criticize Iran’s leadership, saying Tehran “did not play nice” when attacking commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, an action that was considered a violation of the ceasefire agreement.

The President said he would talk with special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who are participating in contacts with Iran, but emphasized that returning to the negotiating table depends on Tehran. He accused Iran of repeatedly distorting the contents agreed in the ceasefire agreement that Washington and Tehran signed on June 17.

“All sides agreed that Iran cannot possess nuclear weapons. We reached an agreement. But then they told the press that we had never mentioned that issue. There is something wrong with them,” Mr. Trump emphasized.

The US President expressed his desire to “completely resolve the problem” instead of pursuing diplomatic efforts with Iran. “Do you know what to do? Ulcers must be removed early. That’s the way I look at the problem,” he said.

This is the clearest sign that the deal that Mr. Trump pursued with Iran has almost collapsed, according to CNN. The statement was made by the US President after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced that it had launched missiles to attack US military targets in Bahrain and Kuwait, in response to US air strikes on southern Iran.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) previously said it had conducted a raid with precision guided weapons, hitting more than 80 targets in Iran, including air defense systems, command and control networks, coastal radar stations, anti-ship missile complexes, and more than 60 IRGC speedboats in areas in and near the Strait of Hormuz.

Many explosions occurred in the port city of Bandar Abbas, Qeshm and Sirik islands. Iran’s national television station (IRIB) accused US forces of “mainly targeting civilian areas”.

According to CENTCOM, this is “an immediate response to Iran’s latest attacks targeting commercial ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz”. The UK Maritime Security Agency (UKMTO) announced that three cargo ships were attacked near the coast of Oman on July 7, as they passed through the Strait of Hormuz. Among these are a Qatari liquefied natural gas tanker and a Saudi Arabian supertanker.

Iran has not commented on Mr. Trump’s statement. However, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi previously accused Washington of violating the terms of the memorandum between the two countries by canceling exemptions for Tehran’s oil exports and carrying out air strikes, forcing Iran to respond.

“All US bases in the region are legitimate targets for our drones,” the Iranian military’s public relations office said.

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“The era of bullying and coercion is over. It will not bring results. We will not submit,” Mr. Qalibaf emphasized.

World oil prices increased more than 5% on July 8 after President Trump’s announcement. Brent oil price increased 5.3%, to 78.09 USD/barrel, while WTI crude oil increased 5.4%, to 74.23 USD/barrel.

On July 6, the US President also threatened to “completely resolve the Iran problem” if an agreement with this country is not reached.

“We could knock down their bridges in just an hour, we could destroy their energy supply. Now, they don’t have any money anymore. We didn’t give them any money,” he said.

However, Mr. Trump then expressed that “I still want a deal, because I don’t want to affect 91 million people.”