Iran says US strikes have voided June ceasefire deal

Iran said it no longer considers a June ceasefire memorandum with the United States binding after new US strikes killed seven Iranian troops and hit targets near the Strait of Hormuz. The declaration raises the risk of a wider regional conflict as both sides trade attacks and Washington renews pressure on Iranian ports.

Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s top negotiator, said the country’s armed forces had “complete freedom of action” against what he called enemy aggression. He said Iran was in an “essential and existential war with America” and had no reason to keep observing the terms of the June 17 arrangement with Washington.

The US announced several rounds of air strikes overnight Tuesday and again Wednesday, saying American forces struck military targets in Iranian coastal areas near the Strait of Hormuz and on Greater Tunb island. Iran’s army said one strike hit a barracks in Bampour in southeastern Iran, killing seven members of the 388th Brigade and wounding others.

Iran’s army said it would give “a decisive response” at a time it deemed appropriate. Iranian media also reported that a US overnight attack struck a wheat storage site in Khuzestan province, a claim the US military denied.

Ceasefire terms collapse

The latest US wave began at 10:30pm in Iran, or 19:00 GMT, according to the US announcement cited by Al Jazeera. Iranian media reported explosions in or near Bandar Abbas, Chabahar and Ahvaz.

The US military also said it had redirected two commercial vessels as part of a renewed blockade of Iranian ports, which it said began the previous night. Tehran said the repeated attacks and the blockade had destroyed the basis for the June memorandum.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Iran had dropped its commitments because the US had failed to honor its own. “Our commitments remain in effect only as long as the other side fulfils its pledges,” Baghaei said, according to Al Jazeera.

Baghaei said Tehran did not plan further talks with Washington and was focused on defending Iran. Al Jazeera correspondent Resul Serdar, reporting from Tehran, said a return to negotiations had become “extremely difficult” because of renewed sanctions, the blockade and what he described as a low-intensity war.

Serdar said Iranian officials still left room for diplomacy if Washington returned to the terms of the memorandum. Ghalibaf also said Iran was weighing diplomacy alongside military action, saying the country must be ready for battle while using talks to secure national interests.

Attacks spread across the region

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Wednesday morning that it targeted the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain as part of what it called a “crushing response.” The IRGC also said it struck a major US military logistics hub in Mina Abdullah, Kuwait.

Kuwait’s Ministry of Defence said it intercepted at least four cruise missiles and 21 drones from Iran during the day. Jordan’s military said it shot down three Iranian missiles.

Gulf Cooperation Council Secretary-General Jasem AlBudaiwi condemned the attacks on Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan, calling them “treacherous” and saying they showed Iran’s intent to pull the region into more instability. Zeidon Alkinani, founding director of the Arab Perspectives Institute, told Al Jazeera that Iran’s attacks were straining Gulf states that had opposed the US-Israel war on Iran and backed diplomacy.

Trump warns Iran

US President Donald Trump warned Tuesday that US attacks would intensify if Iranian leaders did not resume negotiations. He threatened to “knock out” Iran’s power plants and bridges.

Asked Wednesday whether he would set a deadline for Iran, Trump declined to give a firm date. “I don’t like giving deadlines, but they pretty much know; they know the story… they better behave,” he said.

This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.