The fragile ceasefire that had briefly halted hostilities between the US and Iran has collapsed within days of being declared, prompting Donald Trump to launch fresh strikes and reimpose a blockade on the Strait of Hormuz. The president, who had scrapped plans for a 20% toll on ships using the strategic waterway in favour of major Gulf investment deals, now warns that even tougher military action could follow.
‘I don’t like giving deadlines, but they pretty much know, they know the story… they better behave,’ Trump said, adding: ‘You’d better make a deal, or you’re not going to have anything left.’ He told attendees at a defence summit that Iran wants to ‘settle so badly’.
“Trump threatens Iran to 'behave' after ceasefire collapses and US launches new strikes, reimposing Strait of Hormuz blockade.”
The escalation comes after Iran began targeting vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, with multiple cargo ships attacked this week. Tehran also carried out missile and drone strikes against US allies in the Middle East, including Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan. In response, the US launched a wave of strikes targeting Iranian naval facilities at Bandar Abbas Naval Base, using kamikaze drones and, for the first time in combat, uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) as strike weapons.
US Vice President JD Vance, who has previously spoken out against involvement in foreign conflicts, defended the administration’s approach. ‘What the president has done very, very capably is say, “we’re going to use military force in this situation when it’s connected to something we’re trying to achieve, so if you shoot at ships, we’re going to shoot at the facilities which you use to shoot at the ships,”’ Vance said. ‘But we’re not just going to do something open-ended, indefinitely. We’re not just going to bomb and bomb and bomb. We’re going to try to use our military force as one of the many tools that we have to solve the problem.’
The operation marks the latest development in the US Navy’s increasing use of uncrewed vessels. Last month, a Saronic Corsair USV was used to rescue the crew of a US Army AH-64 Apache helicopter that crashed in the Gulf of Oman after being reportedly brought down during hostilities with Iran. Military officials described it as the first known use of a drone boat to recover personnel during a search-and-rescue mission.
With the ceasefire in tatters and Trump threatening to cripple Iran’s bridges and power plants, the question now is whether diplomacy has any room left — or whether more war will only entrench both sides further.