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Xinlu Liang

Seong Hyeon Choi

Teresa Elena Frontado

US President Donald Trump declared on Wednesday that the ceasefire with Iran was “over”, hours after American forces launched fresh strikes on the Islamic Republic and as Beijing called for both nations to de-escalate and return to the negotiating table.
“I think it’s over,” Trump said on the sidelines of the Nato summit in Ankara when asked whether the ceasefire was “done”.
“I don’t want to deal with them any more.”
The US president also warned that attacks on Iran would continue on Wednesday evening. “We’ll probably hit ’em hard tonight, I’ll give ’em a little warning.”
Hours earlier, Beijing urged both countries to return to negotiations.
“Reigniting the conflict does not serve any party’s interests. Military means cannot solve the fundamental issue,” said Mao Ning, spokeswoman for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“We call on the US and Iran to follow through on their memorandum of understanding, resolve disputes through dialogue and negotiation, and avoid resorting to force.”
Trump dismissed further engagement with Tehran as futile.
“It’s just a waste of time dealing with them,” he said, calling the Iranians “liars”.
He also indicated he was considering reinstating the naval blockade of Iran, saying: “We may put it back, the blockade, and it’ll only be a blockade for Iran.”
The US naval blockade of Iranian ports lasted roughly two months, from mid-April until a June ceasefire agreement reopened the Strait of Hormuz and allowed Iranian oil exports to resume.
While Trump suggested representatives of the US could continue negotiations, he cast doubt on any meaningful outcome: “They can talk, but I think they’re wasting their time.”
The declaration came after the US military unleashed a new wave of strikes on Iran on Tuesday, hitting air defence systems, radars and more than 60 small boats operated by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth said the strikes targeted “underground facilities where they were storing drones or missiles, coastal defence sites, radar sites, surveillance sites”, and other assets used to “harass shipping in the Strait of Hormuz”.
The US said the strikes were in response to attacks on commercial ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most strategically important waterways.
Also on Tuesday, Washington moved to restore sanctions on Iranian oil by revoking a temporary waiver granted under an interim agreement reached in June, which was signed amid a pause in hostilities that has been tested regularly in recent months.
US officials said the attacks on shipping were incompatible with the understandings reached under that arrangement and warranted consequences.
The era of bullying and extortion is over. It leads nowhere. We don’t fold
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iranian parliament speaker
The IRGC responded swiftly, announcing it had struck dozens of US military targets in Bahrain and Kuwait with missiles and drones.
“In the initial response to the US aggression, the naval and aerospace forces of the IRGC, in a joint missile and drone operation, struck 85 locations of important US military facilities at Salman Port, the US Fifth Fleet area in Bahrain, and Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait,” the IRGC said in a statement on Wednesday.
The statement added that the attacks came as millions of mourners in Iran and Iraq took part in funeral ceremonies for Iran’s late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s parliament speaker, struck a defiant tone on social media: “The era of bullying and extortion is over. It leads nowhere. We don’t fold.”
In a social media post on Wednesday, he listed major US violations of its ceasefire agreement with Tehran. These included violating Iranian “adjustments” in the Strait of Hormuz, persistent threats of further strikes, reinstating oil sanctions and attacks on southern Iran.
The fragile interim agreement signed last month by Washington and Tehran was meant to halt the war and provide a 60-day window for negotiations on a permanent peace deal.
Indirect talks in Qatar ended last week with no sign of progress.


In his comments on Wednesday, Trump also said he was “not happy” with Nato because of the security alliance’s unwillingness to help Washington take control of Greenland and support its war efforts against Iran.
He singled out Spain, which has denied US military aircraft access to its airspace during air strikes against Iran. He described Madrid as a “terrible partner” and said he would cut all trade with the country.
While sitting next to Trump, Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte praised Washington’s reinstatement of sanctions on Iranian oil and described the US air strikes against the country as “absolutely necessary”.
Rutte defended Nato member states’ contributions to Washington’s war efforts against Iran, noting that 5,000 aircraft had taken off from European airports in support of US strikes.
In contrast to his criticism of Nato member states, Trump said China had “treated us right”. He added that he was a “big fan” of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“I was with President Xi, and I said, I hope you’re not going to go into the war, we don’t want that,” Trump said. “And he never went into the war. He didn’t supply any equipment.”
Top European Union diplomat Kaja Kallas said on Wednesday that the exchanges of fire between the US and Iran “further complicate already fraught talks to end the war”.
The renewed confrontation threatens negotiations aimed at permanently reopening the Strait of Hormuz, reducing tensions surrounding Iran’s nuclear programme and securing a longer-term settlement between the two sides.
Earlier on Tuesday, three commercial vessels were struck while operating near the entrance to the Persian Gulf, according to British maritime authorities.
One liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker caught fire after sustaining damage near the Omani coast, while two other ships were damaged but remained seaworthy and continued their voyages. No injuries were reported.
The incidents represented the largest number of attacks on commercial shipping in the waterway in a single day since April.
Qatar condemned the attack on one of its LNG carriers and publicly blamed Iran.
Analysts warned that any prolonged disruption to shipping through the waterway could send crude prices higher and complicate efforts to stabilise global energy supplies following months of conflict.


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‘I don’t want to deal with them any more,’ US president says on the sidelines of the Nato summit in Turkey


‘I don’t want to deal with them any more,’ US president says on the sidelines of the Nato summit in Turkey.


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Donald Trump declares Iran ceasefire ‘over’, China calls for de-escalation

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}‘I don’t want to deal with them any more,’ US president says on the sidelines of the Nato summit in Turkey

‘I don’t want to deal with them any more,’ US president says on the sidelines of the Nato summit in Turkey