President Donald Trump said his tentative ceasefire with Iran is over.
“For me, I think it’s over,” he said on Wednesday (Jul 8) in Ankara, sitting next to Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte at the military alliance’s annual summit. “As far as I’m concerned it’s just a waste of time.”
Trump’s remarks came shortly after the US launched a new wave of strikes against Iran and revoked a waiver that allowed the sale of Iranian oil.
The actions, taken in response to recent attacks on ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, brought fresh volatility to energy markets and tested an already fragile peace agreement between Washington and Teheran.
“I don’t want to deal with them, but they’re scum,” Trump said. “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.”
Three ships were attacked in Hormuz, apparently by Iran, which has said repeatedly it will not allow vessels to transit the crucial energy waterway without its permission.
The end of attacks on commercial shipping and the US waiver were central elements of a memorandum of understanding that halted fighting between the US and Iran and set up a 60-day period for negotiations on a broader peace deal.
Together, the developments marked the most serious threat to the interim peace deal. The US blamed Iran for the attacks on shipping, while Teheran said the military strikes and waiver revocation violated the agreement between the two countries.
Oil prices, which touched a peak near US$125 a barrel in late April, had returned toward pre-conflict levels this month on signs of a recovery. But following the Treasury decision, oil prices surged again on Tuesday.