'They're scum, the deal is over': Trump rages, US strikes 80 targets in Iran over attacks on tankers in Hormuz Strait
Strikes mark sharpest escalation of fighting since the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding
The U.S. military and Iranian regime forces exchanged intense strikes overnight between Tuesday and Wednesday after the Iranian Revolutionary Guards struck three ships in the Hormuz Strait the day before, marking the sharpest escalation of fighting since the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the sides.
The escalation came as U.S. President Donald Trump attended the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, which shares a border with Iran. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday morning, the president fumed over the latest violations of the ceasefire and indicated that the deal could be off the table.
"To me, I think it’s over," he said, "I don’t want to deal with them. They’re scum... They’re sick people. They’re led by sick people. And they’re vicious, violent people. And if they had a nuclear weapon, they’d use it.
The escalation also came against the background of the week-long funeral processions for Iran’s slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei, which featured calls to murder Trump. The procession reached the Shia holy city of Najaf in Iraq on Tuesday evening.
Trump: "We attacked, very powerfully last night, the very dangerous people from Iran... There's something wrong with them. We say, 'Go and do your funeral stuff,' and instead of that, they start shooting rockets at ships yesterday. So we hit them very hard last night." pic.twitter.com/DYN0wKjDCW
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) July 8, 2026
“We said, ‘Go and do your funeral stuff,’ and instead of that, they start shooting rockets at ships yesterday," Trump charged, “they want to take out the US leader — me. I’m on whatever list."
“These are evil, sick people. And we have to root out that cancer. That cancer. You know what you do? You’ve got to cut out cancer early. And that’s the way I feel,” the president added.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) stated in the morning that its forces “completed a new round of offensive strikes against Iran, July 7, hitting over 80 targets with precision munitions… [including] Iranian air defense systems, command and control networks, coastal radar sites, anti-ship missile capabilities, and more than 60 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps small boats in and near the strait to degrade Iran’s ability to continue attacking international commerce.”
A U.S. Marine Corps F-35C stealth fighter prepares to take off from USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) in the Arabian Sea. pic.twitter.com/KDAjwsNr7A
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) July 6, 2026
The military command said the reason for the strikes was that “Iran recently attacked three commercial vessels transiting the strait... The unwarranted aggression by Iranian forces is a clear and dangerous violation of the ceasefire and undermines freedom of navigation.”
The attacked ships suffered significant damage, with one reportedly in danger of exploding due to a fire in the engine room. The attacks caused no casualties.
The regime responded by launching drones and ballistic missiles at targets in Bahrain and Kuwait, which host U.S. bases, a U.S. official confirmed to the Wall Street Journal. The Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) claimed to have hit dozens of U.S. military facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait.
In an earlier response to the Iranian attacks, the Trump administration announced it would revoke the temporary waivers on oil sanctions. A U.S. official told Axios, “President Trump and the administration have repeatedly affirmed, the MOU in effect with Iran is entirely performance-based.”
“Iran will only reap benefits if they exhibit good behavior. Iran's actions in the strait were wholly unacceptable to the United States and will be met with consequences.”
Regime officials reacted angrily, accusing the U.S. of violating the deal. The Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that the American “violations” and the Israeli “attacks in Lebanon are making the interim arrangement ineffective.”
The Speaker of Iran's Parliament and chief negotiator in the talks with the U.S., Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, listed alleged violations of the MoU, which also included Israeli actions in Lebanon, while declaring: “The era of bullying and extortion is over. It leads nowhere. We don’t fold.”
Major MOU Violations by the US:
— محمدباقر قالیباف | MB Ghalibaf (@mb_ghalibaf) July 8, 2026
Violating Iranian adjustments in the Strait
Persistent threats of further strikes
Reinstating oil sanctions
Attacks on southern Iran
Continued Zionist aggression on🇱🇧
The era of bullying and extortion is over. It leads nowhere. We don’t fold.
The Iranian military also explicitly threatened more attacks on U.S. bases in the region.
Meanwhile, Israel is sitting on the sidelines of the new military escalation while warily monitoring developments. According to Walla News, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was due to travel from Ankara to Israel on Wednesday for meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz; however, the trip was canceled after Trump's remarks.
Kuwaiti and Bahraini officials strongly condemned the attacks on their territory.
Anwar Gargash, a senior adviser to the President of the UAE, wrote on 𝕏 that the Iranian attacks “are a clear indication that Tehran is still incapable of adhering to the demands of de-escalation and ending the war. The Gulf states cannot remain a target for Iran's hesitation between escalation and the path of rationality, stability, and peace.”
The U.S. strikes also received backing from NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who called them “absolutely necessary.”
“When you have a ceasefire and Iran is basically violating the ceasefire, I think it is totally crucial that the US forcefully react,” Rutte told reporters on the sidelines of the NATO summit.
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