Trump Declares US-Iran Ceasefire Over After Hormuz Strikes

Global oil markets face renewed pressure after the latest breakdown in efforts to end fighting between the United States and Iran. Attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz triggered US strikes on more than 80 Iranian targets, followed by Iranian missile and drone launches against US-linked sites in Bahrain and Kuwait. The sequence has placed the June memorandum of understanding under direct strain.

US Central Command stated that its overnight operation hit Iranian air-defense systems, command nodes, coastal radar, anti-ship missiles and more than 60 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps small boats. The stated purpose was to degrade Iran’s capacity to threaten shipping. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps reported striking 85 US facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait in response; Kuwaiti forces said they intercepted two ballistic missiles and 13 drones. One IRGC naval officer was reported killed in Iran.

Speaking alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the Ankara summit, President Trump said the interim agreement was finished. He described Iranian leaders as “scum,” “sick people” and “liars,” adding that further talks would be “a waste of time.” He left open the possibility that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner could continue discussions. Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf accused the United States of breaching the memorandum through renewed sanctions and strikes, stating that “the era of bullying and extortion is over.”

The memorandum, signed 17 June, had suspended major hostilities for 60 days, required Iran to facilitate safe passage through the strait, and set a framework for longer-term talks on sanctions and Iran’s nuclear program. Both sides had previously accused the other of violations. Oil prices rose more than 5 percent after Trump’s remarks, though they remained below earlier peaks reached during full closure of the strait. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte called the US strikes “absolutely necessary.”

The attacks occurred during funeral ceremonies for Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Shipping data showed at least four tankers turning back from the strait. No independent damage assessments or casualty totals beyond the single reported IRGC death have been released by neutral observers.