The fragile three-week-old ceasefire between the United States and Iran is over, Donald Trump declared on Wednesday, vowing to hit Tehran “hard” in the next few hours and prompting an immediate threat of retaliation.
Speaking at the NATO summit in Turkey, the US president lambasted Iran’s leaders after Tehran attacked commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. The US responded by hitting more than 80 targets overnight, and Trump warned fresh attacks could come as early as Wednesday night.
“Trump declares US-Iran ceasefire over, threatens to hit Tehran 'hard' within hours after Iranian attacks on shipping.”
“The ceasefire is over,” Trump said, promising to ramp up military action. “We will hit them hard.” His remarks came just three weeks after the initial truce was agreed, and marked a dramatic escalation in one of the world’s most volatile flashpoints.
Within hours, Tehran issued a stark warning: any attack would be met with an immediate response. The exchange raised fears of a full-blown conflict in the Gulf, with global oil shipments passing through the Strait of Hormuz already disrupted by the earlier Iranian strikes on commercial vessels.
Trump’s threat, delivered from the NATO summit stage, appeared to catch allies off guard. The president did not specify the scale or timing of the promised assault, but his language left little room for de-escalation. “In the next few hours,” he said, “we will hit them hard.”
The crisis began when Iranian forces targeted commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for global energy supplies. The US military responded with a wave of strikes against more than 80 Iranian targets, an operation that Trump described as successful but insufficient.
Now, with the ceasefire in tatters and both sides vowing escalation, the question is whether diplomatic off-ramps remain open — or whether the region is sliding toward another war.
