President Trump declared the U.S.-Iran ceasefire over Wednesday and called Iran’s leaders “scum” and “sick people” in blunt remarks delivered at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey — threatening to reimpose the naval blockade, launch additional strikes and potentially seize Iran’s Kharg Island as the fragile June peace agreement appeared to collapse under renewed military exchanges.
“It’s a very interesting question. To me, I think it’s over,” Trump told reporters in Ankara alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. “I don’t want to deal with them anymore. They’re scum. You know what scum is? They’re scum. They’re sick people. They’re led by sick people, and they’re vicious, violent people. And if they had a nuclear weapon, they’d use it. As far as I’m concerned, it’s over.”
The remarks came hours after U.S. Central Command announced a second round of strikes against Iran, hitting over 80 targets in response to Iranian attacks on three commercial vessels — Marshall Islands-flagged M/T Al Rekayyat, Saudi Arabia-flagged M/T Wedyan, and Liberian-flagged M/T Cyprus Prosperity — transiting the Strait of Hormuz on July 5 and 6.
The Deal That Just Collapsed
Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed a 14-point Memorandum of Understanding on June 17 that halted military operations, reopened the Strait of Hormuz and lifted a U.S. naval blockade, with an agreement to negotiate a broader peace deal within 60 days, according to the official White House release on the agreement. The deal was just 21 days old when Trump declared it over Wednesday.
Trump said he was not ruling out continued talks and referenced his negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner by name — but added, “as far as I’m concerned it’s just a waste of time dealing with them. They’re liars.” He also threatened to reimpose the naval blockade. “We may put down the blockade, we may put it back, the blockade, and it’ll only be a blockade for Iran,” he said. At a closing press conference, Trump also said “let’s just finish the job” and suggested the U.S. might take over Kharg Island, which handles nearly all of Iran’s oil exports.
Iran’s Response
Iran’s IRGC said in a statement published on state media that in response to U.S. ceasefire violations, it had attacked 85 U.S. military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait and shot down an American MQ-9 Reaper drone. IRGC commander Saeed Ghasemi called the June MOU “worthless scrap” and said the “trumpet of war” should be sounded “with full force.”
Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the country’s top negotiator, accused the United States of multiple violations of the June agreement in a Tuesday post on X, writing “The era of bullying and extortion is over. It leads nowhere. We don’t fold.” Iran’s Foreign Ministry said the U.S. had “challenged” the agreement’s structure through unilateral actions and violated the MOU’s terms. Neither side had formally declared the deal dead by Wednesday evening, even as both sides launched new attacks.
What Triggered the Collapse
The breakdown centered on conflicting interpretations of Clause 5 of the MOU, which the U.S. interpreted as requiring Iran to fully reopen the Strait to all international shipping, and which Iran interpreted as giving Tehran authority to coordinate shipping routes during the interim period. When Iran attacked the three commercial tankers, the U.S. struck back and revoked the oil sanctions waiver it had granted Iran as part of the deal, according to the White House’s Operation Epic Fury release.
Trump accused Iran of exploiting the pause in fighting for the funeral of slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — killed in the opening U.S.-Israeli strikes on February 28 — to attack ships instead of negotiating. “We say go and do your funeral stuff, and instead of that, they start shooting rockets at ships yesterday, and so we hit them very hard last night,” Trump said. “I would say 20 to 120 times tougher.”
Market and Global Impact
Oil prices surged more than 6 percent immediately after Trump’s remarks, with U.S. crude jumping more than 6.5 percent to $75 a barrel — its largest one-day move since early June — and international benchmark Brent rising 6.2 percent to nearly $79 a barrel. U.S. stocks fell sharply on renewed fears about energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil traditionally passes. Nearly 6,000 seafarers remained stranded in the Persian Gulf, according to the head of the International Maritime Organization.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency advised all airlines to avoid the airspaces of Iran, Iraq and Lebanon until August 31, citing the potential for “imminent threats” should the ceasefire fully break down. Gulf Cooperation Council members Bahrain and Kuwait — both home to major U.S. military bases — condemned the Iranian strikes on their territory as a “flagrant violation” of their sovereignty.
NATO Backdrop and Alliance Tensions
Trump’s Iran remarks dominated a summit that had been convened to discuss defense spending and Ukraine. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte backed the U.S. strikes, telling Trump directly, “I think what you did last night was absolutely necessary. It was a very strong response,” and calling the Strait of Hormuz’s reopening “crucial for all 32 Allies,” according to the official NATO transcript.
But Trump used the summit to publicly criticize several NATO allies for refusing to support U.S. operations against Iran. “Italy turned us down, and Germany turned us down, and France turned us down, and it’s OK, but you know, why are we spending hundreds of billions of dollars and they’re not there for us?” Trump said. He also threatened to halt U.S. trade with Spain amid tensions over its defense spending and Iran posture, and again insisted the U.S. should control Greenland — prompting Denmark’s leader to vow publicly to defend the territory.
Personal Threat and Closing Remarks
Trump said at the closing press conference that Iran had designated him its “number one target” and that he might be killed. “I’m the number one target because they’re scum,” he said. “Their leaders are gone. And you know what, I may be gone too.” He nonetheless described the war as “a tremendous success,” saying Iran “has no military left. Their Air Force is gone. Their ships are gone,” and expressed confidence the conflict would be over “quickly” — even as he previewed additional strikes and the possible reimposition of the blockade that had preceded the June deal.
The 60-day MOU deadline is set to expire in mid-August. With new strikes underway, the naval blockade potentially returning and both sides publicly dismissing the agreement, the prospect of a negotiated resolution to the 2026 Iran war appears further away now than at any point since the June memorandum was signed.