U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed pessimism around a framework peace deal with Iran, saying he believes that the truce is "over" after an exchange of attacks overnight.
Speaking at a NATO summit in Turkey, Trump accused Tehran of double-dealing and cast doubt around the status of the agreement.
"We make a deal, and everyone’s agreed. No nuclear weapons. We make a deal. They go outside, talk to the press, they say we never even talked about it. There’s something wrong with them. They’re cuckoo. As far as I’m concerned, it’s over," Trump said.
But he did not say if the U.S. would resume the war against Iran, and hinted that he would be open to negotiations continuing should both parties be willing to engage with each other.
The comments came after Iranian armed forces said on Wednesday they had attacked U.S. military sites in Kuwait and Bahrain, in retaliation to American strikes on targets in Iran and Washington’s decision to revoke a sanctions waiver on Iranian oil.
In a statement cited by Iran’s state news agency, the paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said it had struck 85 U.S. military sites and shot down an American MQ-9 drone.
The Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, which is a part of the Iranian military, also said that the U.S. strikes on locations in southern Iran were a "blatant act of aggression," adding that "under no circumstances will we allow interference in the affairs or management of the Strait of Hormuz."
Earlier, the Pentagon said that its strikes were a response to recent Iranian attacks on commercial vessels attempting to traverse the strait, a vital conduit for global oil shipping. The waterway partially straddles Iran’s southern coast. U.S. Central Command also claimed that it had struck more than 80 targets in Iran, as well as more than 60 IRGC small boats in and around the strait.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control revoked the general license authorizing the production, delivery, and sale of crude oil, petrochemical products, and petroleum products of Iranian origin.
Tehran has not claimed responsibility for attacks on Tuesday on the ships off the coast of Oman, which included a Saudi oil tanker and a Qatari vessel laden with liquefied natural gas.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s Parliament Speaker and top negotiator, accused Washington of violating a 14-point memorandum of understand signed by both sides in June. Writing on X, Ghalibaf said Washington’s actions were "violating Iranian adjustments" in the strait, which had been reopened under the terms of the preliminary deal.
The tit-for-tat strikes have threatened to derail talks over a permanent agreement to wind down hostilities, as well as a nascent rebound in oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz. Discussions are now reportedly paused for funeral ceremonies honoring former Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a barrage at the onset of a joint U.S.-Israeli assault on Iran in late February.
Against this backdrop, oil prices marched higher, clawing back some recent losses recorded in the days after the signing of the framework peace deal on June 17. A jump in crude prices following the start of the war sparked fears of an inflation wave hitting countries around the world.