US-Iran ceasefire remains despite Iranian attack on three US warships
US President Donald Trump says ceasefire with Iran was still in place despite an Iranian attack on three American destroyers in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, which he dismissed as “a trifle.”
US President Donald Trump says the ceasefire with Iran was still in place despite an Iranian attack on three American destroyers in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, which he dismissed as “a trifle.”
The US military said it carried out strikes on Iranian military targets in response, although Tehran charged that it was Washington that had initiated the exchange of fire.
The violence threatened to unravel a fragile truce in effect since April 8 that brought an end to weeks of US-Israeli attacks on the Islamic republic, which has retaliated with strikes across the Middle East and by blocking the strait, a vital route for oil and gas shipments.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Asked in Washington if the Iran ceasefire was still on, Trump said: “Yeah it is. They trifled with us today. We blew them away. They trifled. I call that a trifle.”
“It’s just a love tap,” Mr Mr Trump said when asked about the strikes.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a post on X that Iranian forces launched “multiple missiles, drones and small boats” at the three US warships, but none were hit, and that it “eliminated inbound threats and targeted Iranian military facilities responsible.”
“CENTCOM does not seek escalation but remains positioned and ready to protect American forces,” it said.
It said it targeted “Iranian military facilities responsible for attacking U.S. forces, including missile and drone launch sites; command and control locations; and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance nodes.”
Explosions shook Qeshm Island and the port city of Bandar Abbas, both shipping centers on the Strait of Hormuz, as well as the capital, Tehran, according to Iranian news media and citizens posting on social media.
Iran’s central military command accused the US of violating the ceasefire by attacking an oil tanker and another ship, saying Tehran’s forces “immediately and in retaliation attacked American military vessels.”
Mr Trump had fuelled hopes of a deal just the day before, saying an agreement could be near, even as he again threatened to return to bombing if Tehran refused to back down.
He doubled down on that stance after Thursday’s clash, posting on his Truth Social platform: “We’ll knock them out a lot harder, and a lot more violently, in the future, if they don’t get their Deal signed, FAST!” he said.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Tehran would communicate its position to mediator Pakistan “after finalising its views.”
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had struck an optimistic tone prior to the exchanges of fire on Thursday, saying in televised remarks: “I firmly believe that this ceasefire will turn into a long-term ceasefire.”
According to The New York Times, three Iranian officials said that negotiators from Tehran and Washington were debating a one-page proposal for the US to lift its blockade on Iranian ships and ports, for Iran to reopen the strait to commercial traffic and for both sides to end the fighting. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive negotiations. US officials did not respond to requests for comment on the negotiations.
The key stumbling block centered on Iran’s nuclear enrichment program and its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, the Iranians said.
Any agreement between the United States and Iran could also help lower tensions in Lebanon, where a separate truce was under renewed strain after an Israeli strike on southern Beirut killed a commander from militant group Hezbollah on Wednesday.
A US State Department official confirmed on Thursday that the new Israel-Lebanon talks would take place on May 14 and 15.
It will be the third meeting in recent months between the two countries, which have technically been at war for decades and have no diplomatic relations.
A ceasefire between the two countries and including Hezbollah was extended after the last round of talks in Washington, but Israel has kept up its strikes on the group, which has claimed attacks of its own on Israeli forces occupying parts of Lebanon’s south.
Lebanon’s health ministry reported at least 12 people killed in a series of Israeli air strikes on Thursday.
Following the start of the war with US-Israeli attacks on February 28, Iran largely shuttered the Strait of Hormuz.
Around 1500 ships and 20,000 international crew are now trapped in the Gulf region because of the conflict, the secretary-general of the UN’s International Maritime Organization, Arsenio Dominguez, told a Maritime Convention of the Americas meeting in Panama.
Trump had this week briefly launched a naval operation to force open the strait to commercial vessels, only to stand it down within hours, citing progress on negotiations with Iran.
The US President - who has lambasted Europe for not backing his war against Iran - said he had a “great call” with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, saying they were “completely united that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.”
with The New York Times
