The war between US and Iran doesn’t seem to come to an absolute end as violations of the ceasefire continue to happen.
The United States launched fresh strikes after striking Iranian targets a day earlier in retaliation for attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, which the Islamic Republic responded to by attacking sites in Kuwait and Bahrain.
The US was returning its refueling planes to the region, after they were removed during the ceasefire that began in early April. Some of the planes, whose presence is a potential signal of the war restarting, were previously parked at Ben Gurion Airport.
Tehran fired on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, prompting the US to hit Iranian targets overnight Tuesday-Wednesday and Iran to retaliate against US targets in the Gulf. Iranian state media reported that eight members of the Iranian navy and air force were killed in US attacks on southern parts of the country, in Bandar Abbas and Bushehr.
Following those strikes, lead mediator Pakistan urged restraint. But both the US and Iran used bellicose rhetoric, with Iran threatening to close the strait and US President Donald Trump first declaring that the memorandum of understanding between the countries was “over,” then sending mixed signals over whether, or how much, fighting would continue.
“I don’t think it’s going to start again. I think it’s going to go very quickly. They hit a couple of ships, and so we hit them much harder,” Trump said Wednesday during a press conference at the conclusion of a NATO summit in Ankara.
In Truth Social posts accompanying images he shared of US strikes in Iran, which he called “retribution for yesterday’s bombing of ships by Iran,” Trump warned, “If it happens again, it will get much worse!”
In further remarks, Trump later claimed Iran “called a little while ago, they want to make a deal so badly.” “I just don’t if they are worthy of making a deal. I don’t know if they are going to honor a deal, that’s the problem,” he told reporters. When asked why Iran would attack commercial ships if it wants to reach an agreement as he claimed, Trump said, “they’re sort of a crazy. They’re a little bit out of control, but they want to make a deal badly.”
He again warned Iran against attacking US targets, saying “every time they hit us we’re going to hit them twenty[fold].” Trump stressed he did not know if the sides were heading toward a full resumption of activities.
