𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Donald Trump has vowed to unleash heavy strikes against Iran after declaring the ceasefire over. The US president said his military will “hit them hard” as he called the Tehran government “dishonourable”.

The latest wave of American raids against Iran and Mr Trump’s comments on the fragile ceasefire caused another spike in oil prices, causing further uncertainty in economies around the world. Speaking at the NATO summit in Turkey, the president said: “If we make a deal with Iran, I’m not sure that will stick because I found them to be very dishonourable. We hit them very hard last night, very, very hard,” adding that the US will “probably hit them hard again tonight”.

Earlier, Mr Trump said it was “a waste of time” dealing with the Iranian regime, branding them “scum” and “sick people”.

His comments came after US forces launched a wave of strikes on Iranian targets in response to Iran’s targeting of tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran said it had retaliated with strikes against Bahrain and Kuwait.

The attacks came just hours after Washington also pulled Tehran’s licence to sell oil, which was only issued last month following an interim ceasefire deal.

Brent crude oil jumped by around 6.5% to $79 a barrel on Wednesday morning after Mr Trump said the ceasefire was over.

Downing Street said it wanted to see peace negotiations continue.

Speaking at the NATO summit in Ankara, Sir Keir Starmer told reporters: “I think it’s very important that we all focus on maintaining the ceasefire, notwithstanding the events of the last few days, and trying to make sure we can implement the deal that is in place.

“I don’t want to lose sight of that, and I don’t think anybody is losing sight of that.

“Because if you want to ensure that energy bills come down, the single most important and effective thing that can be done is to make sure that we make further progress on the deal that President Trump has struck with Iran, and get the Strait of Hormuz open, which is why we set up a coalition to do the necessary reassurance work in due course.”

The American military confirmed it struck 80 targets in Iran on Wednesday as a response to Iran’s latest attacks on commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

Following the US strikes, Iran’s top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, accused the US of committing “major” violations of the ceasefire deal.

In a post on X, he said the violations included “persistent threats of further strikes”, “reinstating oil sanctions”, and “attacks on southern Iran”.

“The era of bullying and extortion is over. It leads nowhere. We don’t fold,” Mr Ghalibaf said.

Three civilian vessels were hit in the strait on Tuesday, the most in a single day since late April, according to UN International Maritime Organisation figures.

The renewed hostilities threaten to again disrupt shipping transiting the Gulf channel and cause difficulties in securing a permanent end to the conflict, launched by the US and Israel on February 28.

Meanwhile, tensions have been running high in Iran with the holding of funeral ceremonies for the former Iranian Supreme Leader, the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the opening attack of the war.