Donald Trump affirmed on Thursday that the ceasefire was still holding, while Tehran accuses Washington of violating it after US strikes against “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 took care of them. They played. I call it a trifle,” declared the American president to journalists. This exchange of fire comes at a time when Washington is still awaiting a response from Tehran to its latest proposal to permanently end the war.
Donald Trump urged Iran to sign an agreement “QUICKLY” in a message posted on his Truth Social platform, warning that they would be struck “much more violently in the future” if they do not.
“US forces intercepted unprovoked Iranian attacks and retaliated with defensive strikes” after three of their missile-firing 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.
They “neutralized threats and targeted Iranian military installations responsible for attacks on US forces, including missile and drone launch sites, command and control centers, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance bases,” it added.
Accusations against Washington
On the other hand, 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 quoted by state television, immediately retaliating by attacking US military ships, causing significant damage.
Iranian television had reported explosions heard earlier in a port in Qeshm, located in the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran has locked down this strategic passage for global hydrocarbon trade since the beginning of the war on February 28, which has resulted in thousands of deaths, mainly in Iran and Lebanon, and shaken the global economy.
“I firmly believe that this ceasefire will become a lasting ceasefire,” declared Pakistan’s 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 US, day and night.”
In the absence of breakthroughs in negotiations, oil prices fell on Thursday but moderately, with Brent crude, the global benchmark, settling just above $100 at the close.
Donald Trump had deemed a peace agreement with the Islamic Republic “very possible” on Wednesday, mentioning “very good discussions in the past 24 hours,” even though he had again hinted at the threat of resumed bombing in parallel.
