Trump says agreement with Iran to stop fighting is over after sides exchange strikes

Iran targets sites in Bahrain, Kuwait after wave of U.S. strikes

U.S. President Donald Trump said an interim agreement to end the war with Iran was "over" on Wednesday after Tehran carried out new attacks on U.S. bases in the ⁠Gulf.

In a flare-up ⁠of hostilities that ‌pushed oil prices up to a two-week high, Iran said it had targeted U.S. military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait after U.S. forces struck ⁠Iranian targets in response to attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.

The attacks further undermined efforts to ‌turn a memorandum of understanding that was reached last month into a permanent peace deal to end the war, which began with U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iran on Feb. 28.

Asked before a NATO summit in Turkey ⁠whether the memorandum of understanding reached last month was over, ⁠Trump said: "It's a very interesting question. To me, I ⁠think ⁠it's over. I don't want to deal with them."

"They're scum. They're sick people. They're led ⁠by sick people," he told reporters in Ankara. "As far as I'm concerned, it's just a waste of time dealing with them."

It was the latest turn in tone for Trump, who last month said the new Iranian leadership were "far less radicalized" than when those in place before the war started, and that the new Iranian supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei has "a very good reputation" in "some circles."

Iran's Revolutionary Guards earlier said it carried out a joint missile and drone operation against key U.S. military sites in Bandar Salman, Bahrain's Fifth Naval District and Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, and shot down a U.S. MQ-9 drone attempting to interfere in the operation.

Air raid sirens sounded in Bahrain and Kuwait, and the Kuwaiti army said air defences were confronting "hostile" missile and drone attacks. There was no immediate comment on the strikes from the U.S. military.

Iran attacks Bahrain and Kuwait following U.S. strikes, threatens to halt talks to end war

U.S. says it launched strikes on Iran for 'attacking commercial shipping' in Strait of Hormuz

On Wednesday, the U.S. launched a wave of military strikes on Iran in response to attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. The fresh military strikes came as the U.S. revoked a licence allowing Iran to sell oil in response to attacks on three tankers in the strait.

Oil prices rose more than three per cent after the U.S. announced the move.

The U.S. Central Command said more than 60 small boats of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were among the targets hit during the operation, which was intended to impose a heavy cost on Iran for strikes on shipping in violation of the ceasefire.

"The unwarranted aggression by Iranian forces is a clear and dangerous violation of the ceasefire and undermines freedom of navigation," CENTCOM said in a statement.

U.S. attacks 'necessary,' NATO's Mark Rutte says

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told reporters before a summit of NATO leaders that the new attacks by the U.S. on Iran were "absolutely necessary."

"When you have a ceasefire and Iran is basically violating the ceasefire, I think it is totally crucial that the U.S. forcefully react," Rutte said.

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called Iran's attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait "unacceptable."

"Next Monday, ⁠EU Foreign Ministers will meet with their Gulf counterparts to discuss ‌how we can work together to support the implementation of the agreement and preserve freedom of navigation in the Strait as ⁠well as the Red Sea."

Iran's top joint military command, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, condemned the U.S. strikes as a "blatant act of aggression," threatened a "crushing response," and warned that Tehran would not allow U.S. interference in the management of the strait.

Ship captain describes being trapped by war in Persian Gulf

A top Iranian negotiator, parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, accused the U.S. of breaching the ceasefire agreement. He cited not only the latest U.S. military strikes, but renewed oil sanctions, violations of Iranian "adjustments" in the Strait of Hormuz, and Israeli attacks against Lebanon.

"The era of bullying and extortion is over," Qalibaf said in a post on X. "We don't fold."

Iranian media earlier reported explosions in Iran's main oil hub of Kharg Island, on Qeshm Island and in the southern port cities of Sirik and Bandar Abbas.

Iran's Press TV reported several blasts were heard in southern Kharg Island. CENTCOM made no mention of Kharg Island, from which Iran exports 90 per cent of its crude oil.

A U.S. official told Reuters that strikes targeted Iranian air defence systems, coastal surveillance systems, surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship cruise missiles and drone launch sites.

No civilian deaths were reported in Iran, but several people were injured by shrapnel from an "enemy projectile" that hit a commercial pier in Sirik, according to an Iranian state TV reporter. The reports said strikes also hit fishing piers in Sirik and in Bandar Abbas.

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