President Donald Trump warned Iran on Wednesday that the US was preparing for another night of strikes, just hours after he said the ceasefire was over following Iranian attacks on American military sites in the Persian Gulf.
Mr Trump renewed his past threats to strike Iran’s civilian infrastructure, including electric plants and desalinisation plants, and to seize Kharg Island, which includes most of the Islamic Republic’s oil facilities.
“We hit them very hard last night,” Mr Trump said when asked about a possible return to hostilities. “We’ll probably hit them hard again tonight.”
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Mr Trump made the remarks in Ankara, Turkey, on the sidelines of a NATO summit. He said the strikes are continued retaliation for Iranian attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
“They are behaving very badly,” he said of Iran, accusing the country of launching drones and a missile at ships. After three tankers were hit Tuesday, the U.S. launched strikes on Iran, and Iranian forces retaliated by attacking American military sites in the Gulf.
Strikes raise fears that war could resume
The latest exchange of fire raised fears that the war in Iran could reignite, and Mr Trump fuelled those concerns by saying the interim agreement to pause fighting was “over,” although he added that he would allow negotiations to continue.
Attacks have repeatedly threatened the shaky ceasefire, but Mr Trump’s comments added new uncertainty, and oil prices shot up after he spoke. A renewed conflict could engulf the wider Middle East and would likely again halt energy shipments through the strait that are crucial to the global economy.
“For me, I think it’s over,” Mr Trump said when asked about the status of the ceasefire. He added that US representatives can continue negotiations, but he cast doubt on the outcome. “They can talk, but I think they’re wasting their time,” he said.
Mr Trump has threatened to seize Kharg Island at previous points in the war, including last month, when he also questioned whether the U.S. “has the stomach for it.” Some 90 per cent of Iranian oil exports pass through the island.
Negotiations to reach a final deal had been due to start after the dayslong funeral for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed February 28 in the war’s first moments. The funeral, which ends Thursday, was supposed to be a period of lower tensions.
The talks are meant to focus on the toughest matters, including fully reopening the strait and rolling back Tehran’s disputed nuclear program.
“The era of bullying and extortion is over,” Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf wrote on X. “It leads nowhere. We don’t fold.”
US military says it hit air defences and small boats
The US military’s Central Command said American forces launched strikes “to impose heavy costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping crewed by innocent civilians in an international waterway.”
It said it hit Iranian targets including air-defence systems, radars and over 60 small boats used by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.
Those boats have been key to threatening ships in the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil and natural gas passed before the war. Iran’s ability to bring shipping in the waterway to a near halt during the war proved its greatest strategic advantage. Rising prices for energy supplies, fertiliser and food put pressure on the U.S. to make a deal. On Wednesday, the price of Brent crude, the international standard, spiked over 5 per cent after Mr Trump’s comments.
The US military remains “prepared to hold Iran accountable when the agreement is not adhered to or obeyed,” it added, saying this round of attacks had ended.
Iranian state media reported explosions in several locations, including in Bandar Mahshahr, where a Revolutionary Guard member was killed. It also reported attacks on Bushehr, home to Iran’s nuclear power plant complex.
On Wednesday morning, both Bahrain, home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, and Kuwait, home to US Army forces, sounded missile alerts. The Revolutionary Guard issued a statement acknowledging targeting US military installations in both countries.
Kuwait said it intercepted two ballistic missiles and 13 drones launched by Iran. The Kuwaiti Electricity Ministry said a number of lines were out of service after shrapnel fell on them.
A similar spate of Iranian attacks on shipping and U.S. retaliatory strikes occurred late last month, which similarly drew Iranian attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait. Wednesday’s strikes came as Trump was in Turkey for a summit of the NATO military alliance.
Anwar Gargash, a senior diplomat in the United Arab Emirates, called Iran’s attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait “a clear indicator that Tehran remains incapable of committing to the requirements of de-escalation and turning the page on war.”
Before the strikes, the US had revoked a licence that — for the first time in years — had allowed Iran to conduct oil sales openly in US dollars, as part of the interim deal. Iran long had been suspected of selling sanctioned crude at below-market prices to China.
The revocation came after the strikes on shipping. One tanker was off the coast of Oman when it was hit and caught fire, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said. Iranian state television said the tanker came under attack after ignoring warnings but did not directly claim the assault.
Majed al-Ansari, a spokesperson for the Qatari Foreign Ministry, said the tanker was carrying Qatari natural gas and called the strike an “unacceptable attack” on international navigation and global energy security. He said Qatar, which has been a key mediator alongside Pakistan in the talks, holds Iran “fully legally responsible.”
Two other ships sustained some damage, but no one was injured, and both continued on their way, the UK agency said.
Iran and the United States agreed as part of the interim deal to allow ships to pass through the strait without paying charges for 60 days. But Tehran has insisted it must control the vessels’ routes and vowed to later charge fees for passage. That would upend decades of practice in the waterway. The ships attacked Tuesday all appeared to be using a route close to Oman’s shore, rather than one ordered by Tehran.
The US and many Gulf Arab states say they will not agree to Iran charging for passage through the strait.
Mourners attend Khamenei’s funeral services in Iraq
Funeral ceremonies for Khamenei were held Wednesday in the Iraqi city of Najaf. Attending the services were Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and other Iranian as well as Iraqi officials, including Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Falah al-Zaidi. Funeral prayers were planned later at the Imam Hussein shrine in Karbala.
Khamenei’s body will then be returned to Iran to be buried Thursday at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, his birthplace.
