Trump calls Iran govt ‘cancer’: Why have US-Iran strikes resumed? What does it mean for peace talks?
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday, 8 July, declared that the Memorandum of Understanding with Iran was ‘over’. US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday, 8 July, declared that the Memorandum of Understanding with Iran was ‘over’. US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the Iranian government was a “cancer” that had to be cut out early, adding that US forces hit Iranian targets “very hard” overnight. Reversing the already fragile peace that had ensued in lieu of the ceasefire deal that Iran and the US had signed, Trump said, “These are evil, sick people. And we have to rid of that cancer… You got to cut out cancer early (sic),” The US President made the claims at the NATO summit in Ankara alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. Trump said Iran had fired missiles at ships instead of focusing on funeral ceremonies for its slain leader and said the US response was “20 times tougher”. The US president also said Iran could not be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon and said Tehran had been “trouble” for 47 years. His remarks sent Brent crude surging 6% to $78 a barrel, knocked 1.6% off European equity markets, and pushed government bond yields higher as investors braced for renewed inflationary pressure. What triggered the renewed US strikes on Iran? According to US Central Command (CENTCOM), the strikes hit “over 80 targets” in Iran in direct response to attacks on three commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz: the Marshall Islands-flagged M/T Al Rekayyat, the Saudi-flagged M/T Wedyan and the Liberian-flagged M/T Cyprus Prosperity, all reportedly sailing near Oman's coastline at the time.
Iran has instructed international shipping to use a designated “safe route” that hugs its own coastline through the strait, marking a stretch of Omani waters as a “restricted zone”. Local broadcasters said the tankers had disregarded warnings from Iranian forces to alter course. CENTCOM said in a statement that “US forces struck Iranian air defence systems, command and control networks, coastal radar sites, anti-ship missile capabilities, and more than 60 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps small boats in and near the strait to degrade Iran's ability to continue attacking international commerce flowing through the international trade corridor.” The command also cautioned that further strikes could follow should Iran continue acting “outside of agreements”. Which Iranian sites were hit in the latest strikes? Iranian state media reported explosions in the southern port city of Sirik, where commercial and fishing piers were struck, and several people were injured by shrapnel, though the full extent of casualties remains unclear. Additional strikes were reported on Qeshm Island, a strategically significant point in the Strait of Hormuz, and near Bandar Abbas, a port previously blockaded by the US Navy before the MoU took effect. Also Read | Trump says the ceasefire deal with Iran is ‘over’ Two military installations in Iran's southern Bushehr province were also struck, according to a provincial security official cited by the semi-official Fars news agency. One base was hit in Dashti County and another near the town of Chogadak. Fars reported no deaths or injuries from either incident. Has Washington taken any further economic action?
The BriefWire