President Donald Trump said that the ceasefire installed by the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the US and Iran is over.
“For me, I think it’s over. I don’t want to deal with them anymore. They’re scum. You know what scum is? They’re scum. They’re sick people. They’re led by sick people,” Trump told reporters at the NATO summit on Wednesday. “And they’re vicious, violent people. And if they had a nuclear weapon, they’d use it. As far as I’m concerned, it’s over. There’s something wrong with them, they’re cuckoo.”
Trump’s remarks followed Iran’s attack on multiple vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. Last month, the US and Iran signed an MOU that established a ceasefire and gave Tehran control over shipping in the Strait. Iranian officials said the targeted tankers were not using shipping lanes approved by Tehran.
The US responded to the attacks by hitting scores of targets in Iran. Trump suggested the US would continue to strike Iran. “We hit them very hard last night,” he said, adding, “we’re going to hit them hard again tonight.”
However, Trump claimed he did not believe the war would start again. It’s unclear how the President believes the war will end without the MOU or negotiations with Iran, which he asserted are a waste of time.
“I’ll speak to our negotiators. They want to negotiate. They’re good people. Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, but they have to come back to me. As far as I’m concerned, it’s just a waste of time dealing with them.” Trump continued, “I’ll let our wonderful negotiators keep talking if they want, but I don’t see it.”
