Ceasefire is over, but US and Iran agree to keep talking, Trump says | Today’s news
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the United States and Iran had agreed to continue talks despite an escalation of hostilities this week, even as he said a truce reached between the two sides last month was over. Reuters.
The US also raised requirements on Friday for Iran will halt attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, where recent hostilities have driven up oil prices, a politically sensitive issue for Trump ahead of congressional elections in November.
Trump’s remarks came at the end of a week marked by renewed conflict that saw three Qatari and Saudi commercial tankers come under fire, prompting US strikes on Iranian sites and retaliatory Iranian strikes on US military positions in the Gulf states. No further attacks were reported on Friday, Reuters reported, as regional mediators worked to salvage diplomatic efforts to end the war, which began on February 28 with joint US-Israeli attacks on Iran.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said: “The Islamic Republic of Iran asked us to continue ‘talks’. We agreed to do so, but the United States clearly told them the ceasefire is OVER!”. But Iran disputed that, and state television said Tehran had not asked for the talks but had agreed to host a Qatari mediator, the report said. A person with knowledge of the situation told Reuters that Qatari negotiators met with Iranian officials on Friday to de-escalate tensions and discuss the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump warns of military response over alleged assassination plot
Trump also said he had ordered the US military to prepare strikes against Iran if Tehran tried to assassinate him.
Reuters reported that at the funeral of slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, mourners filled the courtyard and some carried placards threatening Trump’s life. Khamenei was killed in an airstrike on the first day of the war, the report said.
According to ReutersIranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi is set to visit Oman to discuss measures for the safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz. The US is demanding a public commitment from Iran to stop attacks in the strait and ensure open passage without tolls, senior US officials said, as quoted in the report.
At least 17 people were killed and 115 injured in US airstrikes on six Iranian cities this week, according to Iran’s Ministry of Health. Despite the violence, US officials described recent talks between the two countries as productive, while a spokesman for Tehran’s foreign ministry warned that any breach of commitments by Washington would be punished with reciprocal action. The renewed fighting also drove oil prices to their biggest weekly gain in eight weeks, adding pressure on US consumers.
