President Donald Trump warned Iran on Wednesday that the US was preparing for another night of strikes, just hours after he said the ceasefire was over following Iranian attacks on American military sites.
Trump renewed his past threats to strike Iran's civilian infrastructure, including electric plants and desalinisation plants, and to seize Kharg Island, which includes most of the Islamic Republic's oil facilities.
"We hit them very hard last night," Trump said when asked about a possible return to hostilities. "We'll probably hit them hard again tonight." Trump made the remarks in Ankara, Turkey, on the sidelines of a Nato summit. He said the strikes are continued retaliation for Iranian attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
"They are behaving very badly," he said of Iran, accusing the country of launching drones and a missile at ships. After three tankers were hit on Tuesday, the US launched strikes on Iran, and Iranian forces retaliated by attacking American military sites in the Gulf.
The latest exchange of fire raised fears that the war in Iran could reignite, and Trump fuelled those concerns by saying the interim agreement to pause fighting was "over," although he added that he would allow negotiations to continue.
"As far as I'm concerned, it's over," Trump said at a Nato summit in Turkey on Wednesday when asked if the truce was intact."It's just a waste of time dealing with them," he added. "I'll let our wonderful negotiators keep talking if they want, but I don't see it. I don't like these people."
Oil prices immediately jumped five percent after Trump's remarks, having already reached their highest level in two weeks.
Attacks have repeatedly threatened the shaky ceasefire, but Trump's comments added new uncertainty, and oil prices shot up after he spoke.
A renewed conflict could engulf the wider Middle East and would likely again halt energy shipments through the strait that are crucial to the global economy.
"For me, I think it's over," Trump said when asked about the status of the ceasefire. He added that US representatives can continue negotiations, but he cast doubt on the outcome. "They can talk, but I think they're wasting their time," he said.
Trump has threatened to seize Kharg Island at previous points in the war, including last month, when he also questioned whether the US "has the stomach for it."
Some 90% of Iranian oil exports pass through the island.
Negotiations to reach a final deal had been due to start after the dayslong funeral for Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed Feb. 28 in the war's first moments.
The funeral, which ends on Thursday, was supposed to be a period of lower tensions. The talks are meant to focus on the toughest matters, including fully reopening the strait and rolling back Tehran's disputed nuclear programme.
"The era of bullying and extortion is over," Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf wrote on X. "It leads nowhere. We don't fold."
The US military's Central Command said American forces launched strikes "to impose heavy costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping crewed by innocent civilians in an international waterway."
Iranian state media reported a wave of explosions around the strait, including six on the island of Qeshm, seven in the city of Sirik and more in the major port city of Bandar Abbas.
It later reported a series of blasts in the coastal city of Bushehr, which hosts the country's only civilian nuclear power plant and lies near Kharg island, the main oil terminal through which 90 percent of Iran's crude exports transit.
State media said a member of the military's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) had been killed, while the foreign ministry said monitoring and observation sites had been hit on the southern coast.
'ANXIOUS'
US Central Command (CENTCOM) said its forces had struck over 80 targets, including Iranian air-defence systems, coastal radar sites and 60 IRGC small boats.
The strikes aimed "to degrade Iran's ability to continue attacking international commerce flowing through the international trade corridor," it said.
Mark Rutte, secretary general of Nato, said at the summit in Ankara that the American strikes were "absolutely necessary."
Tehran's reply came quickly, with the Guards saying they hit dozens of US military facilities in Kuwait and Bahrain, where an AFP journalist heard blasts.
Kuwait said it intercepted two ballistic missiles and 13 drones, while the Iranian army said it had also attacked US forces at Sheikh Isa air base in Bahrain.
Agencies