The cease-fire is dead. Long live the cease-fire.
The U.S. and Iran are striking each other again, and there is at least some concern that the tit-for-tat status quo may turn back into a full blown hot war, despite both sides signing the much heralded, but actually crappy memorandum of understanding less than a month ago.
On Tuesday, Iran tried to reassert its dominion over the not-totally-reopened Strait of Hormuz by striking some commercial ships near Oman — whose territorial waters are being used for a U.S.-backed route which avoids dealing with Iran. The U.S. responded with air strikes on targets in Iran and by reimposing sanctions on Iran’s oil exports. Iran responded to that with air strikes targeting, it said, U.S. bases in Gulf nations. Now the price of oil is back on the rise while everyone waits to see if this remains a measured back-and-forth, or if it suddenly spirals out of control. In a rare admission of reality, as it pertains to this conflict, President Trump on Wednesday said the cease-fire was over and that ongoing negotiations were a “waste of time.”
“To me, I think it’s over,” he told reporters at the NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkey on Wednesday. “I don’t want to deal with them,” he said, referring to Iran’s regime, who he called “scum” and “sick,” “violent” people.
