Iran’s regime shattered the ceasefire with President Donald Trump’s administration Tuesday — attacking three commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and triggering a rapid military escalation that has now buried the memorandum of understanding.
The deal, which Trump’s team had touted for weeks as progress toward stability, collapsed in a matter of hours.
U.S. Central Command launched strikes on Iran after the tanker attacks. According to Reuters, American forces hit more than 80 Iranian targets — air defense systems, command and control centers, radar installations, missile facilities, and more than 60 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps boats operating in and around the strait.
Iran’s response: a barrage against U.S. military installations in Bahrain and Kuwait.
The IRGC claimed it struck 85 U.S. military facilities in the Gulf, according to AFP citing Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB. In Bahrain, targets included facilities associated with the U.S. Fifth Fleet. Kuwait reported two ballistic missiles and 13 drones in its airspace.
Trump called Iranian leaders “scum” and “sick people” and argued that if Iran obtained a nuclear weapon, it would use it.
President Trump declared negotiations effectively over Wednesday and made clear the U.S. would respond with force. At the NATO summit in Ankara, Trump said the U.S. would “probably” strike Iran again Wednesday night — and quickly made good on that threat. U.S. forces launched a second round of strikes Wednesday night, continuing into Thursday.
Trump also raised the possibility of restoring a blockade that would apply only to Iran. The president warned Iran could respond by laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
Talks had already been frozen during the funeral ceremonies for the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which concluded Thursday with his burial in Mashhad. During the six-day mourning period, crowds chanted “Death to America,” called for revenge against the United States and Israel, and directed violent chants at President Trump.
The memorandum of understanding had been intended to reduce hostilities while talks continued over Iran’s nuclear program and navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. The regime’s attacks on commercial shipping and U.S. installations — multiple violations U.S. officials say shredded the deal — have pushed the conflict back toward direct military escalation.
Iran tested the wrong president. Trump’s response has been swift, overwhelming, and unambiguous.
