U.S.-Iran ceasefire collapses amid new strikes as Trump mulls restarting war

The U.S. launched fresh strikes on Iran, U.S. Central Command announced Wednesday, as the two sides moved closer to resuming full hostilities.

In a social media post, CENTCOM said the strikes were intended to further degrade Iran’s ability to target commercial and civilian ships traveling in regional waters.

“The United States is holding Iran accountable for recent unjustified aggression against commercial shipping and civilian crews freely navigating a vital international waterway,” CENTCOM wrote on X.

Iranian state media reported loud explosions in the southern part of the country, including cities near the Strait of Hormuz.

Speaking at the NATO summit earlier in the day in Ankara, Turkey, President Trump sounded pessimistic about the ceasefire’s future and lashed out at Iranian leaders for attempting to disrupt the free movement of commercial tankers in the strait.

“There’s something wrong with them. They’re cuckoo. As far as I’m concerned, it’s over,” he said, referring to the ceasefire agreement outlined in the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding signed by Iran and the U.S. last month. “So, I don’t like them at all. And, frankly, I think we waste a lot of time with them. I think we should just do our business.”

Mr. Trump and Israel launched a joint air war on Iran on Feb. 28, vowing to eliminate Tehran’s nuclear program, degrade its military capabilities and inspire regime change. Four months after the start of the war, Iran’s military capacity has been weakened, hard-line elements of the regime remain in power, and the status of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium remains unknown.

Still, Mr. Trump said he did not expect the U.S. and Iran to return to all-out war. He said any further operations would “be over very quickly and would only make it safer.” He had said he expected to strike Iran again later Wednesday after attacks Tuesday night.

He stopped short of saying he would halt all negotiations with Iran. He said he would speak to his diplomatic team first.

However, direct talks between the U.S. and Iranian teams seem increasingly unlikely after the attacks this week.

On Tuesday, maritime authorities reported that three commercial tankers were attacked by projectiles while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway Iran has intermittently closed since the start of the war to pressure international shipping.

Although Iran did not directly claim responsibility, the U.S. and several Persian Gulf nations quickly blamed Tehran, and CENTCOM launched retaliatory strikes Tuesday evening.

According to reports, the strikes targeted more than 80 locations across Iran, focused mainly on air defenses, coastal radar sites and command-and-control networks along the country’s southern coastline. CENTCOM said the goal was to degrade Iran’s ability to interfere with international commerce in the strait.

Iran said at least eight of its air and naval personnel were killed in the U.S. strikes.

Iran retaliated with strikes on at least 85 U.S. military installations across Bahrain and Kuwait. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also said its forces shot down an MQ-9 Reaper drone.

Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said “the origin of any support for the aggressor U.S. military” would be a legitimate target of Iranian forces, implying Gulf nations could face further strikes if they continue hosting U.S. installations.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry said the U.S. had violated the terms of the memorandum and used those violations as a pretext to strike. Specifically, it said the U.S. invalidated the agreement by revoking Iran’s ability to sell oil, interfering with Iranian operations in the Strait of Hormuz and failing to stop Israeli attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon.

After the attacks on the ships, the Treasury Department on Tuesday revoked the waiver allowing Iran to sell oil.

“Despite the explicit provision of the fifth clause of this memorandum — which emphasizes the Islamic Republic of Iran’s responsibility in determining arrangements for the safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz — [the U.S.] has challenged this clause and, in practice, violated the agreement’s structure,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Bagaei posted on X.

Renewed hostilities between the U.S. and Iran sent global crude prices to their highest levels in weeks. Brent crude climbed from $75 to nearly $80 per barrel.

U.S. gasoline prices averaged $3.80 per gallon Wednesday, up from just below $3 at the start of the war, according to AAA.

Mr. Trump has been concerned with U.S. gas prices since the war began and has insisted that costs will return to normal once a peace agreement is reached.

However, Democratic lawmakers have criticized the White House’s war strategy, arguing that American consumers are paying the price.

“Trump’s so-called ’deal’ to end hostilities with Iran has turned into a total, utter disaster. This is what happens when an incompetent president launches a war with no objective, no plan and no exit strategy — you lose,” said Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat. “Our troops are back in harm’s way, and high gas costs are continuing to punish working families.”

Before the strikes, the U.S. and Iran were in the middle of a 60-day window, outlined in the memorandum, reserved for direct technical talks over Iran’s nuclear program and possible sanctions relief.

The attacks Tuesday were far more extensive than those CENTCOM launched last month in response to a similar attack on a commercial ship in the strait. The U.S. military had made clear at the time that those strikes were purely proportional and not meant to restart the war.

After the flare-up last month, the two sides held indirect talks in Doha, Qatar, and mediators said both parties had agreed to meet again, though no date was set. Iranian officials said all negotiations were on hold at least until the weeklong funeral procession for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei concluded.

International leaders urged restraint from both parties and called for a return to talks.

Pakistan, which has mediated between Iran and the U.S. for months, said it was ready to keep facilitating dialogue and warned both countries against actions that would threaten regional stability.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, also at the NATO summit, reminded Mr. Trump and Iranian leaders of the economic costs of returning to war and urged both parties to respect the ceasefire.