President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the ceasefire with Iran is “over,” a sign that the fragile diplomatic track with Tehran may be collapsing after new violence in the Strait of Hormuz.
“To me, I think it’s over,” Trump told reporters at a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Ankara, Turkey, when asked whether the ceasefire and memorandum of understanding with Iran were dead.
“I don’t want to deal with them, but they’re scum. You know what scum is? They’re scum, they’re sick people, they’re led by sick people, and they’re vicious, violent people,” Trump added.
The comments came a day after the U.S. launched new strikes on Iran and revoked a temporary license that had allowed Tehran to sell oil, in response to what U.S. officials said were Iranian attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
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The U.S. launched a second night of retaliatory strikes on Iran, which U.S. Central Command said are meant “to further degrade their ability to threaten freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.”
“I’ll give them a little warning — we will hit them hard again tonight,” Trump said earlier in the day while meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the NATO summit.
The president also said the U.S. could “take over” Kharg Island, the strategic export terminal for the oil and gas industry.
“There’s not a thing they can do about it,” Trump said.
He also suggested that the U.S. could reimpose a naval blockade on Iran, which had been lifted last month as part of the MOU.
Trump said he would still allow U.S. negotiators to keep talking to Iranian officials. But he made clear he had little interest in the talks.
“As far as I’m concerned, it’s just a waste of time dealing with them,” he added. “Now, I’ll let our wonderful negotiators keep talking if they want, but I don’t see it. I don’t like these people.”
Trump also accused Iranian officials of lying about what they had agreed to in private.
“They’re liars. We make a deal. Everyone’s agreed, no nuclear weapons,” Trump said. “They go outside, talk to the press, they say we never even talked about it, is something wrong with them? They’re cuckoo.”
Asked at a press conference what changed since he described Iranian leaders last month as rational and smart, Trump pointed to Iran’s actions over the past two weeks and suggested he was no longer interested in a deal.
“We can play games, but I’m not sure I want to make a deal. Let’s just finish the job,” Trump told reporters.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s expected trip to Israel also appeared uncertain Wednesday. CNN reported Tuesday night that Hegseth was expected to travel to Israel, but The Jerusalem Post reported Wednesday that the visit had been canceled after the U.S. strikes on Iran.
U.S. forces hit more than 80 targets in Iran on Tuesday night, including air defense systems, radars and Revolutionary Guard boats.
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