By Jack Phillips
Contributing Writer
U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday reiterated that a ceasefire between the United States and Iran is over but said that the administration agreed to hold more talks amid a flare-up in fighting in the Middle East.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has asked us to continue ’talks.’ We have agreed to do so, but the United States has stated to them, in no uncertain terms, that the ceasefire is OVER!” the U.S. president wrote in a post on Truth Social.
Trump did not provide further details on the nature of the talks or when they would be scheduled. After a memorandum of understanding between the two countries was signed in June, administration officials, including U.S. Vice President JD Vance, have met with Iranian officials to go over details on how to proceed.
The initial peace deal collapsed after Iran launched strikes on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz last week, prompting the U.S. military to retaliate against Iranian military assets.
Iran has said it wants vessels transiting the strait to follow routes approved by Tehran. About a fifth of all traded oil and natural gas passed through the strait before the war began. Iran’s grip on the strait during the conflict led to a global energy crisis, though oil prices have since dropped sharply from wartime highs of $120 a barrel.
The U.S. military’s Central Command said on Thursday that it had concluded a round of strikes that hit 90 targets. Shortly after that, Iranian news outlets and state media reported a series of airstrikes and explosions targeting the country’s Bushehr and Sistan and Baluchestan provinces, the cities of Ahvaz and Chabahar, and other areas.
Iran responded to the strikes on Thursday by launching a wider volley of attacks across the Middle East, targeting Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait and Qatar. Missile-alert sirens sounded in four countries, prompting people to seek shelter. One person was reportedly hurt in Kuwait as air defense systems targeted the incoming fire across the region.
On Friday, the head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr, said in a statement that U.S. attacks on Iranian infrastructure would be met with a “reciprocal response,” according to state-run Press TV, without elaborating.
Before an initial ceasefire was announced in April, Trump had warned Iran that the United States would strike Iranian power plants and bridges. In an April 7 post on Truth Social, he also said, “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.”
While Iran has said it controls the strait, the United States continues to urge mariners to take a southern route through Oman’s territorial waters to avoid Iranian waters. The Joint Maritime Information Center, a multinational body overseen by the U.S. Navy, issued a new advisory on Friday urging ships to travel that route. A similar message sparked an Iranian attack on Tuesday, resulting in three vessels being hit.
U.S. Central Command said in a Thursday post on X that Iran’s assertion that transit through the Strait of Hormuz is only permitted through routes designated by Iran is false. It added that since May, U.S. forces have allowed for the transport of “more than 800 commercial vessels and 380 million barrels of crude oil through the vital international trade corridor.”
