President Donald Trump said Friday the United States has agreed to continue negotiations with Iran but reiterated that the ceasefire between the two countries is finished.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has asked us to continue ’talks.’ We have agreed to do so, but the United States has stated to them, in no uncertain terms, that the Cease Fire is OVER!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
The US and Iran traded strikes this week, with the Iranian armed forces launching attacks on U.S. military infrastructure in Gulf states on Thursday following US strikes on Iran’s southern coastal and eastern provinces.
The two nations reached an interim deal last month to end a four month conflict that has throttle worldwide energy supplies.
Trump’s inability to end the war has frustrated the president, whose Republican Party faces midterm elections later this year amid high gas prices and voter discontent.
Speaking in Ankara earlier this week, Trump declared that the April 8 ceasefire—which had brought an end to weeks of full-scale fighting but was repeatedly disrupted by low-level clashes—was effectively over. He also described Iranian officials as “scum” and “sick people.”
The US president said he planned to speak with businessman-turned-envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who have been leading contacts with Iran, but maintained that it was ultimately Tehran’s responsibility to resume negotiations.
Hostilities have continued this week, with both sides exchanging attacks. Iran targeted commercial shipping, prompting US retaliatory strikes, while Tehran also launched drones and missiles at American assets across the West Asia.
Meanwhile, a delegation from mediator Qatar arrived in Iran on Friday for talks, local media reported, as hostilities resumed between Washington and Tehran this week following attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.
“The main purpose of the visit is reportedly to try to reinforce Qatar’s role as a mediator following events on Tuesday,” Tasnim news agency reported, after Doha accused Iran of an attack on an LNG carrier, with two other tankers also hit in the strait.
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