War in the Middle East: the ceasefire weakened by American and Iranian strikes

The United States and Iran accuse each other of attacks weakening the ceasefire. Washington accuses Tehran of having attacked three of its ships, while the latter accuses its enemy of strikes on its energy installations. After thirty days of calm, the ceasefire seems more and more compromised.

Who started it? Fire was exchanged Thursday evening between the United States and Iran, with both accusing each other of violating the fragile ceasefire reached on April 8. Washington denounces the attack on three of its ships and Tehran assures that it was a response after American strikes against “Iranian military installations”. For its part, Washington claims to have “targeted Iranian military installations” after the strikes on their ships, reports Le Parisien. Each therefore accuses the other of having started.

For Donald Trump, these exchanges of fire are “a trifle”, he told the press, assuring that the ceasefire was still in place. But the American president also called on Iran, on his Truth Social network, to sign an agreement “quickly” or risk hitting the country “much more violently in the future”. The US Middle East Command said on X that “US forces intercepted unprovoked Iranian attacks and responded with defensive strikes”.

Des négociations à l’arrêt

For its part, Iran accuses the United States of having “targeted an Iranian oil tanker leaving the Iranian coast, as well as another boat”, according to a press release broadcast on state television. Tehran claims to have “immediately responded by attacking American military ships, inflicting significant damage on them”. The American command, however, assures that “no American ship was hit”.

In any case, negotiations are at a standstill. Despite threats of bombing, Donald Trump judged on Wednesday that it was possible that a peace agreement would soon be signed after “very good discussions in the last 24 hours”. These celebrations were nevertheless accompanied by threats of new bombings. The day before, he had suspended the American operation to unblock the boats stuck in the Gulf. On Wednesday, Iran was “still examining the plan and the American proposal” and assured that it would communicate “its position to the Pakistani side, once it has been decided.”