President Donald Trump said on Friday that the United States and Iran had agreed to continue talks despite a recent escalation of hostilities but he flatly declared that the ceasefire reached between the two sides last month was over.
The United States also stepped up demands that Iran stop attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, where recent hostilities have pushed oil prices higher, a politically sensitive issue for Trump ahead of November congressional elections.
Trump’s comments came on a day of relative calm at the end of a week of renewed conflict, when three Qatari and Saudi commercial tankers came under fire, prompting the U.S. to hit Iranian sites, and Iran to respond with strikes on U.S. military sites in Gulf states.
No fresh attacks were reported on Friday as regional mediators sought to salvage diplomatic efforts to permanently end a war that began on February 28 with U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has asked us to continue ‘talks.’ We have agreed to do so, but the United States has stated to them, in no uncertain terms, that the Cease Fire is OVER!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
Credit: Yahoo News