Donald Trump affirmed on Thursday that the ceasefire was still holding, while Tehran accused Washington of violating it after American strikes on “Iranian military installations” in response to an attack on three American ships.
Donald Trump stated on Thursday, May 8, that the ceasefire with Iran was still in effect despite the attack on three American ships earlier in the day.
“They played with us today. We wiped them out. They played. I call it trivial,” the American president told reporters. These exchanges of fire come at a time when Washington is still awaiting a response from Tehran to its latest proposal to end the war permanently.
Donald Trump called on Iran to sign an agreement “QUICKLY” in a post on his Truth Social platform, warning of being “much more severely hit in the future.”
“American forces intercepted unprovoked Iranian attacks and retaliated with defensive strikes” after three of their missile-armed destroyers were attacked while crossing the Strait of Hormuz towards the Gulf of Oman by Iranian “missiles, drones, and small boats,” the US Central Command for the Middle East wrote on X.
They “neutralized the threats and targeted Iranian military installations responsible for attacks against American forces, including missile and drone launch sites, command and control centers, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance bases,” it added.
Accusations against Washington
Meanwhile, the Iranian military command accused Washington of violating the ceasefire by targeting “an Iranian tanker leaving Iranian shores, as well as another boat,” in a statement cited by state television. It said it “immediately retaliated by attacking American military ships, inflicting significant damage.”
Iranian television had earlier reported explosions heard in a port in the Qeshm region, located in the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran has controlled this strategic passage for global oil trade since the start of the war on February 28, which has resulted in thousands of deaths, mainly in Iran and Lebanon, and has shaken the global economy.
“I firmly believe that this ceasefire will become a lasting ceasefire,” said Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday in a televised speech, whose country acts as a mediator and is “in constant contact with Iran and the United States, day and night.”
In the absence of a breakthrough in negotiations, oil prices fell on Thursday but slightly, with the Brent barrel, the global benchmark, settling just above $100 at closing.
Donald Trump had deemed it “very possible” on Wednesday to reach a peace agreement with the Islamic Republic, mentioning “very good discussions in the past 24 hours,” even though he had once again hinted at the possibility of a resumption of bombings concurrently.
