US President Donald Trump said Wednesday the ceasefire with Iran was “over” after the two sides traded fire, but added that negotiators could keep talking to Tehran.
Trump blasted Iran as “scum” and “cuckoo” after Washington launched strikes on the Islamic Republic overnight and Iran’s Guards said they had targeted US bases in the Gulf.
“I think it’s over. I don’t want to deal with them any more, they’re scum,” Trump said at a NATO summit in the Turkish capital Ankara when asked if the truce with Iran was now finished. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s just a waste of time dealing with them. They’re liars.”
Iran’s military, meanwhile, warned that any site enabling the United States to attack the country would be considered a “legitimate target”, after hostilities resumed despite an agreement intended to end the war.
“Any support provided to the aggressive American army to violate the sovereignty and territory of Islamic Iran will be a legitimate target of the armed forces,” the military said in a statement.
In this context, US strikes in southwest Iran on Wednesday killed a member of the Revolutionary Guards’ navy, Iran’s official IRNA news agency said.
“A member of the Guards, Mohammad Reza Khazini, was hit by shrapnel and died a martyr while confronting enemy drones” in Mahshahr, a port city not far from the Iraqi border, IRNA reported, citing a statement from the Guards, the ideological arm of the Iranian military.
In terms of international reactions, China denounced a sharp escalation in hostilities in the Middle East after the United States struck dozens of targets in Iran, with Beijing’s foreign ministry warning both sides against “reigniting” the war in the Middle East.
“Reigniting the war is not in the interests of either side, and military means cannot solve the fundamental problems,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a news conference, when asked about the strikes.
Qatar condemned strikes carried out by Iran against Kuwait and Bahrain and called for diplomacy, as hostilities resumed following attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.
Qatar, a key intermediary in talks between Iran and the United States, said it “emphasizes the need to spare the region the consequences of these unjustified attacks”, in a foreign ministry statement posted on X.
Doha also emphasized the need to “pursue the path of dialogue and diplomacy, to de-escalate tensions, and to build upon the progress achieved under the memorandum of understanding”. (AFP)
