After another exchange of strikes between the U.S. and Iran the night before, President Donald Trump on Wednesday morning signaled that the memorandum of understanding, signed last month to stabilize the ceasefire and lay the groundwork for a final peace deal, was “over.”
At a NATO summit press conference with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Ankara, Trump said that “for me, the memorandum of understanding is over. I don’t want to deal with them anymore,” saying of Iran’s leadership that “they’re scum… In my eyes, it’s a waste of time to continue talking to them. They’re crazy. For me, it’s over. They’re cuckoo!”
Trump also called further talks to end the war “a waste of time.”A CBS News poll released in late June found that 78 percent of Americans want an end to the war now.
Trump’s comments came after overnight strikes launched by the U.S. against Iran, which were followed by Iranian retaliatory strikes against U.S. bases in Bahrain and Kuwait, with the IRGC claiming they targeted 85 major US military installations including the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain. The U.S. military said it launched the new strikes in retaliation for Iranian attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
At the NATO summit Wednesday, Trump said that the U.S. military would “probably hit [Iran] hard again tonight,” adding “I’ll give them a little warning.”
Trump’s decision to launch further air strikes on Iran was applauded by NATO Secretary General Rutte, who told reporters on Wednesday “I think he was totally right last night … to do these strikes obviously is completely the right thing to do, because this was Iran breaking the deal.”
Oil prices rose following Trump’s comments, with the price of Brent Crude oil rising above $79.80 per barrel on Wednesday morning. The per barrel price of Brent Crude oil was $71.50 at the start of the week.
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