US President Donald Trump said the ceasefire with Iran was still in place despite an Iranian attack on three American destroyers in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, which he dismissed as “a trifle.”
The US military said it carried out strikes on Iranian military targets in response, although Tehran charged that it was Washington that had initiated the exchange of fire.
The violence threatened to unravel a fragile truce in effect since April 8 that brought an end to weeks of US-Israeli attacks on the Islamic republic, which has retaliated with strikes across the Middle East and by blocking the strait, a vital route for oil and gas shipments.
Asked in Washington if the Iran ceasefire was still on, Trump said: “Yeah it is. They trifled with us today. We blew them away. They trifled. I call that a trifle.”
US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a post on X that Iranian forces launched “multiple missiles, drones and small boats” at the three US warships, but none were hit, and that it “eliminated inbound threats and targeted Iranian military facilities responsible.”
“CENTCOM does not seek escalation but remains positioned and ready to protect American forces,” it said.
For its part, Iran’s central military command accused the United States of violating the ceasefire by attacking an oil tanker and another ship, saying Tehran’s forces “immediately and in retaliation attacked American military vessels.”
Trump had fueled hopes of a deal just the day before, saying an agreement could be near, even as he again threatened to return to bombing if Tehran refused to back down.
He doubled down on that stance after Thursday’s clash, posting on his Truth Social platform: “We’ll knock them out a lot harder, and a lot more violently, in the future, if they don’t get their Deal signed, FAST!” he said.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Tehran would communicate its position to mediator Pakistan “after finalizing its views.”
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had struck an optimistic tone prior to the exchanges of fire on Thursday, saying in televised remarks: “I firmly believe that this ceasefire will turn into a long-term ceasefire.”
