Iran Live Updates: Trump Casts Doubt on Future of Cease-Fire After Latest Strikes
“I think it’s over,” President Trump said, referring to the preliminary truce, and threatened to strike Iran again. The two sides traded attacks as their truce appeared to edge closer to collapse. Share full articleVideoU.S. Strikes Iran and Iran Hits Back1:12Videos verified by The New York Times showed explosions in Iran after the U.S. military announced it had renewed airstrikes. The Pentagon called it retaliation for an attack on ships in the Strait of Hormuz.CreditCredit...Arash Khamooshi/Polaris for The New York Times See more of our coverage in your search results.Encuentra más de nuestra cobertura en los resultados de búsqueda. Add The New York Times on GoogleAgrega The New York Times en Google Latest PinnedUpdated July 8, 2026, 9:28 a.m. ETLeo SandsEric Schmitt and Hari Raj Here’s the latest.The U.S.-Iran truce that has been on shaky ground for weeks appeared to edge closer to collapse on Wednesday after the two sides traded new attacks and President Trump said he considered the deal to be over. The renewed hostilities and pessimistic rhetoric followed weeks of brewing tension over shipping access through the Strait of Hormuz and occasional strikes. Speaking at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Mr. Trump struck a belligerent tone amid the seemingly unyielding cycle of attacks and counterattacks, threatening to hit Iran again “hard.” In response to a question about the state of the nominal cease-fire, he had earlier responded: “To me, I think it’s over.” In those earlier comments, Mr. Trump also disparaged Iran’s leadership as “cuckoo,” even as he added that he was open to further talks. Soon after, the price of oil jumped to its highest level in weeks. Earlier on Wednesday, Iran’s armed forces said that they had attacked U.S. military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait. Before those attacks, the United States carried out airstrikes against several targets in Iran and reimposed sanctions on Iranian oil sales. The preliminary U.S.-Iran agreement to cease hostilities, which was signed more than three weeks ago, was intended to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil and gas shipping route, and allow more negotiations toward permanently ending the monthslong war. As the countries have continued to exchange intermittent strikes, the United States has accused Iran of not adhering to its commitment to reopen the waterway. Iran has shown a consistent unwillingness to bend to the American demands, insisting that it maintain control over the strait. The Pentagon said its earlier strikes were in response to Iranian attacks on three commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran has not claimed responsibility for the attacks. The central command of Iran’s military called the U.S. strikes in Iran’s south an “overt act of aggression.” In remarks carried on Iranian state media on Wednesday, it also warned the United States against interfering in Tehran’s management of the strait. Hours later, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said that it had targeted 85 U.S. military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait. The Iranian military also shot down an American MQ-9 drone in the attack, the Guards Corps said in a statement published in state media. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s top negotiator and the speaker of its Parliament, on Wednesday accused the United States of major violations of the preliminary accord. Negotiations between Iran and the United States had been paused until after the dayslong funeral ceremonies for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader who was killed on the first day of the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran. Strait of Hormuz: The uptick in violence is threatening to derail the fragile recovery of oil and gas shipments through the crucial waterway. On Wednesday, the International Maritime Organization warned ships against transiting the strait, citing the danger of further attacks. “I’ll give them a little warning we’re going to hit them hard tonight, but we’ll see how it all works out,” President Trump said at the NATO summit, referring to Iran. Seated next to President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, President Trump reiterated his claim that the war effort in Iran accomplished regime change. Iran’s clerical and military establishment remain in control of Iran and its most hard-line factions may even have emerged strengthened. President Trump is speaking at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey. He said the United States is probably going to hit Iran “hard’ tonight. Iran targets sites in Bahrain and Kuwait.ImageThe outskirts of Kuwait City on Wednesday. Iran said it had targeted U.S. military sites in Kuwait.Credit...Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesIran fired a barrage of missiles and drones across the Persian Gulf overnight on Wednesday in retaliation for the latest wave of American attacks in a seemingly unyielding cycle of attacks and counterattacks between the two countries. Iran’s armed forces said they were targeting U.S. military installations in Bahrain and Kuwait, setting off air-raid sirens in both countries. The U.S. military’s Central Command, which oversees Middle East operations, did not immediately comment. The attacks were an escalation after weeks of occasional exchanges of fire despite a nominal truce that Iran and the United States signed last month. U.S. officials hoped the cease-fire would fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the vital waterway that Iran blockaded after the war began in February. But ships in the strait have come under fire in attacks widely blamed on Iran, prompting U.S. retaliation. Iran has then responded by attacking American installations in the Persian Gulf, eroding hopes for a speedy return to normal life there. Before Iran’s strikes on Wednesday, U.S. forces attacked Iran overnight, hitting dozens of sites, in response to the bombardment of three commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz this week. Iran has not claimed responsibility for the attacks, and its military condemned the U.S. strikes as an “overt act of aggression,” vowing “a crushing response.” Hours later, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said that it had targeted 85 U.S. military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait. In a statement carried by Iranian state television, the Revolutionary Guards claimed to have attacked the Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, as well as the U.S. Fifth Fleet’s naval base and Khalifa Bin Salman Port in Bahrain. The Iranian military also shot down an American MQ-9 drone, the Guards said. A U.S. military spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Kuwaiti government said at least two ballistic missiles and 13 drones had been fired at its territory, all of which were intercepted. There were no reports of casualties, although Kuwait’s energy ministry said some power lines had been damaged by falling shrapnel. In Bahrain, air-raid sirens sounded throughout the morning. The country’s military said it had intercepted Iranian missile and drone attacks, without specifying whether there had been any damage. Qatar’s Council of Ministers demanded that Iran halt what it called “dangerous practices” in the Strait of Hormuz, a day after one its liquefied natural gas carriers was targeted in waters off the Omani coast. “The State of Qatar retains its full rights to take whatever measures it deems appropriate,” in response to the attack, the cabinet said in a statement published on state media. Qatar has been mediating in talks between the United States and Iran. After a volatile 24 hours in the Persian Gulf, the head of the International Maritime Organization on Wednesday urged ship operators to avoid sending their ships through the Strait of Hormuz. Doing so could expose the nearly 6,000 seafarers stranded in the Persian Gulf to “unnecessary danger,” said Arsenio Dominguez, secretary-general of the organization. Attacks on three commercial vessels, including a Saudi oil tanker and a Qatari liquefied natural gas carrier, in the waters around the strait are threatening a tentative recovery in shipping. Erika Solomon and Sergey Ponomarev reported in sweltering heat from the funeral processions in Najaf, Iraq. Iraqis mourn Khamenei in a show of solidarity with Iran.VideoKhamenei’s Funeral Reaches Holy Cities in Iraq1:22Mourners flocked to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s funeral in Iraq for a commemoration that carried religious and political symbolism for Shiite Muslims in the country.CreditCredit...Sergey Ponomarev for The New York TimesHundreds of thousands of mourners filled the streets of the Iraqi city of Najaf on Wednesday, chanting, praying and weeping for Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the crowds pushed up to the truck carrying his coffin. It was a mass outpouring of grief for another nation’s ruler — one who, as a pre-eminent Shiite Muslim cleric and political strategist, spent decades extending Iran’s influence deep into Iraq, and across the Middle East. “He was our guardian and protector, and we are here today to return the favor,” said Rabab Jassim, a 45-year old homemaker, who arrived at 3 a.m. from Baghdad to join the procession. “My heart is on fire,” she said, bursting into tears. The procession followed five days of funeral ceremonies and mass mourning inside Iran for Ayatollah Khamenei, who was killed in U.S.-Israeli strikes at the outset of the war on Iran in February. His body was set to be flown back to Iran after the commemorations, and he was expected to be buried on Thursday in his hometown, the northeastern city of Mashhad.
Original Source: NYTimes
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