US President Donald Trump declared the ceasefire with Iran “over” today, following renewed fighting sparked by Iranian attacks on commercial vessels in the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

Speaking at a NATO summit in Turkey, Trump dismissed prospects for continued negotiations when asked if the truce remained intact.

“As far as I’m concerned, it’s over,” Trump said. “It’s just a waste of time dealing with them. I’ll let our wonderful negotiators keep talking if they want, but I don’t see it. I don’t like these people.”

Oil prices jumped 5% following his remarks.

The strategic shipping route has emerged as a flashpoint in the conflict, which began in late February with massive US-Israeli strikes on Iran. Tehran insists on controlling the waterway, demanding fees for passage and threatening vessels that deviate from its authorised route.

Iranian forces have struck at least three ships in recent days, prompting extensive US strikes against Iranian targets on Tuesday, followed by retaliatory attacks from Iran on Gulf countries.

Wave of strikes across Iran

Iranian state media reported a series of explosions around the strait on Wednesday, including six on Qeshm island, seven in Sirik city and multiple blasts in the major port city of Bandar Abbas.

Further explosions were reported in Bushehr port city, which hosts the country’s only civilian nuclear power plant and lies near Kharg island, the main oil terminal through which 90% of Iran’s crude exports transit.

State media confirmed one Revolutionary Guards member was killed in Iran’s southwest.

US Central Command said its forces had struck more than 80 targets, including Iranian air defence systems, coastal radar sites and 60 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps small boats.

The strikes aimed “to degrade Iran’s ability to continue attacking international commerce flowing through the international trade corridor”, CENTCOM said.

Regional retaliation

Tehran’s response came swiftly, with the Revolutionary Guards claiming to have hit dozens of US military facilities in Kuwait and Bahrain, where an AFP journalist heard blasts.

Early Wednesday, both Bahrain’s interior ministry and the Kuwaiti army reported their air defence systems were activated, but provided no details of possible damage.

Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf accused the United States of “major” breaches of their memorandum of understanding, including reinstating oil sanctions and “violating Iranian adjustments in the strait”.

Washington revoked sanction waivers on Iranian oil sales, raising pressure on Tehran during negotiations over a final settlement. The US Treasury Department cancelled a licence announced in June that had allowed Iran to produce, sell and deliver crude oil and related products through 21 August.

“Iran’s actions in the Strait were wholly unacceptable to the United States and will be met with consequences,” a US official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The official said the US-Iran memorandum of understanding was “entirely performance-based”, warning that Tehran would see benefits only with “good behaviour”.

Maritime attacks

British maritime security agency UKMTO reported Tuesday that an “unknown projectile” hit a tanker near Hormuz, causing a fire, before two more vessels were struck, at least one by a drone.

CENTCOM identified the ships as the Marshall Islands-flagged Al Rekayyat, the Saudi Arabia-flagged Wedyan and the Liberia-flagged Cyprus Prosperity.

All three vessels were struck near Oman, which had proposed a temporary transit corridor along its coastline – an initiative opposed by Iran as it seeks to impose fees on ships using the narrow waterway.

The Al-Rekayyat is Qatari-owned, and Doha denounced the “unacceptable” attack on international maritime navigation, summoning Iran’s deputy ambassador to lodge a complaint.

Iran voiced “dismay” over Qatar’s accusations in a statement carried by state news agency IRNA, calling the claims “unacceptable”.

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Future of Hormuz unclear

Andreas Krieg, a security expert at King’s College London, said Iran was sending a clear signal.

“We are now in a sensitive period where potential alternatives to an Iranian toll or fee system are being explored,” Krieg told AFP. “Iran is sending a clear signal that no alternative will be accepted.”

Maritime traffic had tentatively resumed after Washington and Tehran signed the memorandum last month, but Iran has insisted there will be no return to pre-war arrangements, under which vessels could pass freely through the strait.

Under the 14-point US-Iran memorandum, Iran and Oman, which border Hormuz, must hold talks “to define the future administration and maritime services” in the waterway with other Gulf states.

Both sides reported hitting dozens of targets, placing fresh strain on an interim deal to end their war and pushing oil prices to their highest level in two weeks.

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