(Tehran) The United States will strike Iran “hard” tonight, President Donald Trump warned Wednesday as he believed the ceasefire had ended after bitter exchanges, while leaving the door open for further talks with Tehran.
Posted at 6:17 am.
Updated at 9:59 am.
The strategic Strait of Hormuz was at the center of clashes as of late June, with Iran claiming to be imposing passage rights there despite American opposition and threatening ships to bypass the only route it is allowed along its coast.
The same scenario was repeated: attacks on three commercial ships attributed to Tehran, followed by US strikes on more than 80 targets overnight in Iran, according to the US army.
In Iran, media reported explosions near the strait, and the Mehr news agency reported explosions in the port city of Bushehr off Kharg Island, the country’s main oil terminal.
IRANIAN STATE TV IMAGE PROVIDED BY REUTERS
According to this image obtained by Reuters on July 8, 2026, a screenshot from an Iranian state television video reportedly shows an Iranian missile flying to an unknown location.
In response, Tehran said it carried out missile and drone strikes on 85 targets at US military bases in Kuwait and Bahrain.
“As far as I’m concerned, it’s all over (…) negotiating with them is just a waste of time, they’re liars,” Donald Trump said at the opening of the NATO summit in Ankara.
“We’re going to hit them hard tonight,” he added later.
While he said he no longer wanted to “have anything to do with” Iran’s leaders, described as “sick,” he noted that his negotiators could still continue negotiations.
PHOTO BY YVES HERMAN, REUTERS
US President Donald Trump
The comments from a president accustomed to reversals sent oil prices jumping more than 6% to nearly $79 a barrel for North Sea Brent, the international benchmark.
“Ghost of War”
The day before, Washington restored its sanctions on Iranian oil, lifted by a memorandum of understanding signed on June 17 that allowed for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) typically passes.
Having found this common ground, Washington and Tehran resumed difficult negotiations with the goal of a lasting resolution to the conflict triggered by the Feb. 28 Israeli-American offensive.
PHOTO BY FREELANCER, REUTERS
After Tehran blamed the shooting of three commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, the United States responded with “heavy strikes” on more than 80 targets in Iran overnight.
But the rhetoric remains bellicose: Iran warned the United States against “violating” the memorandum of understanding, warning that it would “take decisive action to protect its interests and security.”
“Any support provided to the US military” for attacks on Iran “will be a legitimate target,” warned Tehran, which regularly accuses its Gulf neighbors of authorizing strikes from their territory.
Awakened by air raid sirens, Nawal Saad, a Bahraini civil servant, expressed her “anguish.” “I don’t want to relive this experience of fear,” the 40-year-old told AFP, lamenting that “the specter of war looms again.”
Negotiate by force
“These attacks only add to the fear (…) and suffering” of the estimated 6,000 sailors still stranded in the Persian Gulf, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) lamented.
Kuwait condemned Iran’s “repeated and unlawful attacks” that “compromise” “ongoing de-escalation efforts.” Just like Qatar, one of the mediating countries between Iran and the United States, which called for “continuing the path of dialogue.”
Without singling out Iran, with which it is negotiating to manage Hormuz, cross-strait Oman also condemned the strikes.
Mark Rutte, NATO Secretary General, according to Ankara, assessed the American response as “absolutely necessary” to demonstrate “firmness” against Tehran.
Trump’s rhetoric “does not necessarily mean that the memorandum of understanding has collapsed,” analyzes Ali Vaez of the think tank International Crisis Group (ICG), who does not see “a high risk of a return to all-out war” at this stage.
Both sides are trying to resolve unanswered questions “by force,” and the Iranians, according to the analyst, do not intend to give up control of Hormuz, which they consider “their greatest achievement in this war.”
The renewed fighting comes during the funeral of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed on the first day of the war by Israeli-American strikes.
Ahead of his funeral on Thursday in his hometown of Mashhad, Iran, the ayatollah’s coffin stops in Iraq for processions in Najaf and Karbala, two cities home to Shiite shrines.