After a cease fire that never really became reality, convicted felon and deranged American president Donald Trump has finally abandoned his false claims that his unconstitutional war with Iran is close to ending while approving new attacks in what now is an all-out war.
“Iran’s foreign ministry said on Thursday that the latest round of U.S. strikes on Iran had “effectively rendered the cease-fire of April 8, 2026, meaningless,” reports The New York Times Thursday morning. “In a statement carried by state media, Iran described the overnight U.S. strikes as ‘extensive’ and warned of ,highly dangerous consequences arising from this escalation,’ without giving specifics.”
Shirin Hakim, Eric Schmitt, Qasim Nauman and Lara Jakes report:
The United States and Iran traded a new round of attacks early Thursday, bringing the countries closer to all-out war after President Trump vowed to keep up military pressure on Tehran to make a peace deal.
The tit-for-tat strikes this week risked pushing the conflict into a perilous new phase, with no clear signs of whether the fighting could be contained. Iran’s foreign ministry said on Thursday that the latest round of U.S. strikes on Iran had effectively rendered the cease-fire “meaningless,” and warned of “highly dangerous consequences,” without giving specifics.
The latest American attack began shortly after midnight in Tehran, according to the U.S. military’s Central Command. Explosions were heard in Qeshm near the Strait of Hormuz, as well as the southern cities of Bandar Abbas, Minab and Sirik, Iranian news outlets reported.
Just after 4:30 a.m. in Iran, Central Command said that its round of strikes had concluded. Mr. Trump had earlier told Fox News that strikes would resume the following night if Tehran did not capitulate in negotiations to end the war that began with U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February.
Iran said it had responded with two waves of attacks on targets at U.S. bases in Kuwait and Bahrain. Kuwait’s military said on Thursday morning that it was intercepting hostile targets, and the authorities briefly closed the country’s airspace to civilian aircraft. Sirens were activated in Bahrain, the country’s interior ministry said, without saying what had triggered them.
Iran also said that the Strait of Hormuz was now closed to any type of vessel, including oil tankers and commercial ships. The U.S. military said the strait was not closed.
The latest attacks followed U.S. strikes roughly 24 hours earlier, in which the U.S. military said that its jets had hit multiple Iranian targets in response to the downing of an American Apache helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz on Monday. Iran responded by launching strikes on U.S. targets in the region.
On Wednesday, Mr. Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the new strikes were meant not as retaliation for a particular military action but to pressure Tehran to agree to peace on Mr. Trump’s terms.
“If we need to negotiate with bombs, we’ll negotiate with bombs,” Mr. Hegseth told reporters.
The strong moves bely the constant rounds of lies from Trump and Hegseth. Both continued to push an illusion of a conflict that was winding down but the moves now show that an all-out war is erupting with no clear end in sight.
At The Washington Post, Victoria Craw and Siham Shamalakh report:
Iran launched two waves of attacks against U.S. bases in three countries across the Middle East early Thursday in response to the latest round of U.S. strikes, raising fears that the escalating exchange will bring renewed combat to the region.
The newest round of U.S. bombing ratchets up what is already the hottest week of combat operations since the U.S. and Iran agreed to a tentative ceasefire in April, and it raises further questions about President Donald Trump’s repeated assertions that a overarching deal to end the war is close at hand.
An escalatory spiral started over the weekend after Israel carried out an airstrike Sunday in southern Beirut, targeting the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. That was followed by the first direct attacks between Iran and Israel since April, with two nations trading volleys of missiles until Trump demanded a halt. But after Iran downed a U.S. Army Apache helicopter in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, the president quickly ordered retaliatory strikes, further imperiling the ceasefire and the start-and-stop negotiations.
Trump on Wednesday voiced frustration over the inability to clinch a deal. “Iran is all talk and no action,” he posted on social media. “They’ve taken too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them, now they will have to pay the price!!!”
Later that day, U.S. Central Command said it struck communication systems and air defense sites across Iran. “The strikes are in response to Iran’s unwarranted and continued aggression. U.S. forces remain vigilant, lethal, and ready,” it said.
Iran’s Thursday attacks targeted five sites in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan, according to Iranian state media: the Ali Al Salem and Ahmed Al-Jaber air bases in Kuwait, the U.S. Fifth Fleet headquarters and Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain, and the Mowafq Al-Salti base in Jordan.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said that the U.S. strikes have rendered the April ceasefire effectively “meaningless” and that it remains determined to target the source of the attacks.
The U.S. military did not immediately confirm the attacks on its assets in the region Thursday, but the U.S. Embassy in Jordan issued a security alert based on reports of missiles, rockets and drones in Jordanian airspace.
Jordan’s armed forces intercepted 20 missiles launched from Iran, the country’s news agency reported Thursday. Authorities in Kuwait temporarily closed its airspace and said air defense systems were working to intercept hostile targets. Bahrain’s Defense Ministry said it intercepted missile and drone attacks, and its Interior Ministry urged citizens to take shelter, saying an 11-year-old girl was injured by falling debris from drone interceptions.
The fresh wave of fighting this week has raised fears of a return to widespread regional war, with world leaders calling for the increasingly strained ceasefire — technically still in effect — to be heeded.
U.N. Secretary General António Guterres said the consequences of further deterioration go far beyond the Middle East and called for a diplomatic settlement. “The ceasefire is more like a lesser-fire. We should not minimize the risks of lesser fire becoming full fire,” he said. “No more attacks. No more excuses,” he said.
