ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the ceasefire with Iran was over, after a new wave of strikes between Washington and Tehran sharply escalated tensions despite a fragile truce agreement.
“To me, it's over,” Trump told reporters at the NATO Summit when asked whether the ceasefire had collapsed. “As far as I'm concerned, it's just a waste of time dealing with them. They're liars,” Trump said.
“I don't want to deal with them any more, they're scum,” Trump said. “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.”
Trump’s remarks come after the US launched strikes against command centers and defense targets in southern Iran early Wednesday, while Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it resumed retaliatory attacks against US military bases in the Gulf. US Central Command (CENTCOM) said its forces had conducted a new round of strikes on Iran on Wednesday, hitting more than 80 targets with precision weapons in response to Iranian attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
He also accused Tehran of denying commitments made under the ceasefire agreement signed on June 17, saying Iranian officials had misrepresented the terms after reaching an understanding with Washington which called for a halt to military operations and negotiations toward a permanent end to the conflict that began in late February.
“Everyone's agreed, no nuclear weapon. We make a deal. They go outside, joke to the press, they say we never even talked about it. There's something wrong with them,” said Trump.
Iranian Parliament Speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf also accused Washington of repeatedly breaching previous understandings. “The era of bullying and extortion is over. It leads nowhere. We don’t fold,” Ghalibaf said.
In its latest statement, Iran's foreign ministry accused Washington of repeatedly breaching the ceasefire agreement, citing that the latest military strikes on Wednesday morning, the revocation of a US license allowing Iran to sell oil, and continued Israeli attacks on Lebanon “have rendered important and fundamental parts of the Memorandum of Understanding on the End of the War ineffective.”
The renewed fighting comes as NATO leaders meet in Ankara, where Secretary General Mark Rutte defended the US strikes as “absolutely necessary,” saying Iran had violated the ceasefire.
“Iran is violating the ceasefire,” Rutte told reporters, adding that there should be “no doubt” about Washington’s commitment to NATO.
