‘Ceasefire Is Over’: Trump Announces US Agreed To Iran Peace Talks, Declares End To Ceasefire

Tehran: US President Donald Trump on Friday announced that the United States has agreed to Iran’s request to continue peace talks, but he also declared that any existing ceasefire between the two nations was no longer in effect. In a post on Truth Social, the US President asserted that the Islamic Republic of Iran asked America to continue peace negotiations amid escalating tensions over the Strait of Hormuz. Trump's latest statement was crucial as it came hours after a wave of American airstrikes across Iran that reportedly killed at least 14 people and wounded dozens more.

In a post on Truth Social, the US President said, “The Islamic Republic of Iran has asked us to continue “talks." We have agreed to do so, but the United States has stated to them, in no uncertain terms, that the Cease Fire is OVER! Thank you for your attention to this matter." However, he did not elaborate on the format the talks would take, nor did he clarify the terms of the ceasefire that had ended.

At present, a moment of acute volatility has engulfed the Gulf, where a sequence of attacks on commercial shipping and retaliatory military action has pushed US-Iran relations to their most dangerous point in months. As both sides now signal a willingness to talk while continuing to trade blows, the prospects for de-escalation remain deeply uncertain.

Trigger In The Strait Of Hormuz

Notably, amid a ceasefire in the Middle East, the present crisis began on 7 July, when three merchant vessels came under hostile fire in the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical shipping lanes. The incident shattered a fragile period of calm and prompted an immediate response from Washington.

Trump declared that the ceasefire was void in the aftermath of the attacks and ordered a coordinated aerial strike. The US forces struck a range of Iranian targets, including military installations, air-defence systems and naval assets. Though Washington placed responsibility for the vessel attacks on Tehran, the Iranian officials dismissed the allegations as “questionable". Tehran has long maintained that only ships following its approved route through the Strait of Hormuz could be considered safe, but vessel-tracking data indicated the 3 targeted ships were sailing closer to the Omani coast at the time.

Casualties Mount Across Iran

As tensions escalated between the US and Iran, the human cost of the American bombardment has also surged. On Thursday, Iran’s Health Ministry reported that the first two days of American strikes had killed 14 people and injured 78 across the country.

The details from the affected coastal areas are emerging slowly, with the State television claiming that the small fishing port of Sirik in Hormozgan province was hit heavily by the US missiles. Deputy Provincial Governor of Hormozgan, Ahmad Nafisi, confirmed that the attack on Sirik alone resulted in three deaths and 15 injuries. 

Tehran Retaliates And Claims Drone Downed

Iran responded to the American strikes by launching attacks on dozens of US military facilities in Kuwait and Bahrain, where the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet is based. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) also claimed that it had shot down a US MQ-9 Reaper drone, though no independent confirmation of that claim has emerged.

The strikes and counter-strikes have flared tensions and have raised fresh alarm over the safety of US personnel and regional partners, and have complicated any effort to return to diplomacy. The fresh strikes followed the indirect US-Iran discussions held in Qatar just days earlier on Tehran’s nuclear programme.

Regional Stability Under Question

Following the strikes, Trump’s blunt declaration that the ceasefire and an “interim peace deal” were over marked the clearest sign that the temporary understanding between Washington and Tehran has collapsed. Both sides had limited themselves to calibrated retaliatory strikes for weeks, but the events of this week have broken the pattern.

The renewed hostilities have intensified concerns about further instability across the Middle East, particularly around the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil passes. The administrations on both sides are facing the challenge of talking while fighting, with military operations continuing and negotiations now set to resume against the backdrop.

The White House has not provided further detail on when or where the new talks might take place, or on what issues would be prioritised. Further details regarding the ongoing tensions between the US and Iran are awaited.