U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he believes the ceasefire agreed with Iran on June 17 is “over,” and suggested breaking all communication with authorities of the Islamic Republic following an exchange of strikes between both countries. But he also said that negotiators could “keep talking” if they want.
Speaking at a NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, the U.S. president answered a question about the state of the ceasefire by insulting Iranian leaders and saying “it’s just a waste of time dealing with them.”
“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,” he said.
His words sent the price of oil surging, with Brent crude futures up 6% in London to more than $78 a barrel, while European stock markets lost more than 2%.
Exchange of attacks
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had attacked 85 U.S. military bases in Bahrain and Kuwait in the early hours of Wednesday, just hours after the United States again bombed various targets inside the Asian country in retaliation for Iranian attacks the previous day against three oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.
The new military skirmishes follow Washington’s announcement the day before of a decision that places the ceasefire agreement signed by Tehran and Washington on the brink of collapse, even more so than the recent exchange of attacks. The move was the revocation of the provisional permission that allowed Iran to export oil under the memorandum of understanding the two countries signed on June 17. That document was expected to open a path to a definitive peace after a 60-day negotiation period. However, the prospect of a final end to the war launched by Israel and the United States on February 28 is now more in doubt than ever.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said hours later at the NATO leaders’ summit in Ankara that the new U.S. strikes against Iran were “absolutely necessary.”
Iran’s joint military command, the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, in turn accused the United States of breaking the ceasefire by committing “a blatant act of aggression.” It then threatened a “crushing response” and warned that Tehran would not allow U.S. interference in management of the Strait of Hormuz, which has become Iran’s main bargaining chip during the war.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament who led Tehran’s ceasefire negotiating team, also accused the United States on Wednesday of violating the truce. Significantly, Ghalibaf not only cited the latest U.S. military strikes but also the reinstatement of the ban on selling oil and Israeli attacks in Lebanon, a country Iran insisted should be included in the memorandum signed in mid-June.
“The era of intimidation and extortion is over,” Qalibaf wrote in a post on X. “We will not bow,” he added.
U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to resume bombings unless Iran agrees to a definitive deal. Despite everything, a U.S. official said on Tuesday that the agreement was not broken and that negotiators were still working “in good faith” to reach a final deal with Iran.
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