The US military has launched another strike against Iran in response to Tehran’s attack on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, US Central Command said on Wednesday afternoon.
“The United States holds Iran responsible for recent unjustified violence against commercial facilities and military personnel traveling freely along a critical international corridor,” CENTCOM said in a post on X.
The latest salvo came hours after President Donald Trump said he may no longer be interested in trying to reach a deal with Iran. Earlier on Wednesday, Trump announced that the new US ceasefire agreement with Iran was “finished” due to renewed tensions in the crisis, and said he may order military strikes.
“I’m not sure I want to make a deal with them,” Trump said of Tehran at a news conference in Ankara, Turkey, where he was attending a NATO military summit.
“We can play games, but I’m not sure I want to make a deal,” Trump said, adding, “Let’s just get the job done.”
The president was asked why he so quickly angered Iran’s rulers – who recently called them “scum” and “sick people” – when last month he praised them as “smart,” “very reasonable” and “nice to deal with.”
“I know,” Trump replied.
He added that he still believes they are more rational than the previous leaders the US killed at the start of the war that began on February 28.
“But according to their actions in the last week or two, they are not like that, they are not doing a service to the people, and I think more than anything else, I know them,” he said.
Earlier on Wednesday, Trump said the US standoff with Iran was “over” following the latest outbreak of violence in the Middle East.
Tehran on Tuesday attacked three commercial vessels in or near the Strait of Hormuz, according to the US Central Command and the Joint Maritime Information Center, a US-led naval group.
Following the attack, the US reversed its lifting of sanctions on Iranian oil exports, which were part of a temporary freeze agreement the two countries reached last month.
After that, the US said it launched a series of retaliatory strikes on Iranian military infrastructure and small boats.
The strait, the world’s main oil trade route, has been a major point of tension during the war. Iran’s ability to block the waterway, and its intention to start charging tolls for ships that want to pass through it, has given it a powerful countermeasure to the massive US military. Trump retaliated by ordering a blockade of Iranian naval vessels in the area.
As part of the deal, the US agreed to lift its blockade and Iran agreed to make “its best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels” in the Gulf region.
Esmaeil Baqaei, a spokesman for Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in an X post on Wednesday afternoon accused the US of violating that clause of the agreement, saying it “insists” that Iran is responsible for “determining the arrangements” for ships passing through the port.
The US “challenged this clause and, in fact, violated the structure of the agreement with its collective actions and brutal attacks on Iran,” Baqaei wrote. “The Islamic Republic of Iran will vigorously pursue the defense of its national interests and the exercise of its sovereignty.”
Trump on Wednesday said of Iran, “I don’t want to deal with them anymore.” Trying to deal with the Islamic republic was “a waste of time,” he added.
“For me, it’s over,” Trump said of the ceasefire.
