Trump says ceasefire with Iran is over, calls it “a waste of time dealing with them”

World oil prices soared more than five percent Wednesday after President Trump said the ceasefire with Iran was over, following a fresh exchange of strikes in the Middle East.

International benchmark Brent North Sea crude jumped 5.3 percent to $78.09 a barrel, while the main U.S. contract, West Texas Intermediate, advanced 5.4 percent to $74.23 a barrel.

The U.S. said it had hit over 80 Iranian targets overnight following attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, triggering a wave of reprisals against American bases in the Gulf. 

CBS/AFP

President Trump said Wednesday that the interim agreement with Iran was “over” but he will allow talks to continue.

“For me, I think it’s over,” Trump responded when asked about the status of the ceasefire. Referring to the country’s leadership as “sick,” he added: “It’s just a waste of time dealing with them.”

He made the comment on the sidelines of the two-day NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, and hours after striking Iran in what the U.S. described as retaliation for attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.

CBS/AP

Iranian media reported Wednesday a series of blasts in the port city of Bushehr.

“Explosions have been heard in Bushehr and the surrounding area,” the Mehr news agency said, without providing details.

A provincial official told Iran’s FARS news agency two military bases in Bushehr province were targeted but there were no reports of casualties, according to the Reuters news agency.

Located in Iran’s southwest, Bushehr hosts the country’s only civilian nuclear power plant and lies near Kharg island, the main oil terminal through which 90 percent of the nation’s crude exports transit.

CBS/AFP

Bahrain sounded its missile alert sirens a third time Wednesday morning after Iran launched retaliatory attacks over airstrikes by the United States.

Both Bahrain and Kuwait were targeted by Iran on Wednesday.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard issued a statement acknowledging targeting U.S. military installations in both countries.

“The child-killing and terrorist U.S. army … openly violated the ceasefire and violated the Islamabad understanding by launching an airstrike on a number of coastal bases and civilian stations on the coasts of Hormozgan and Mahshahr provinces,” it said, without addressing Iranian attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf wrote on social media that, “The era of bullying and extortion is over. It leads nowhere. We don’t fold.”

Kuwait bristled at the Iranian attacks on its soil, which it said undermined efforts to de-escalate tensions in the region, according to French news agency AFP.

CBS/AP

President Trump surprised NATO leaders he is meeting with in Turkey when he ordered the launch of a series of strikes on Iran late Tuesday and the revocation of a license that allowed Tehran to sell its oil on the world market.

The moves were a major twist for a summit that had been aimed at showcasing how alliance members were stepping up spending on defense and focusing on support for Ukraine’s war with Russia.

The strikes were retaliation after three merchant ships were struck in the Strait of Hormuz, and underscored the fragility of an interim deal to end months of fighting between the two countries. Mr. Trump launched the attacks shortly after leaving a dinner hosted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan where the leaders of the alliance’s 32 member countries had gathered ahead of Wednesday’s talks.

Mr. Trump didn’t directly address the strikes Tuesday night. It’s rare for U.S. presidents to launch military action while outside the U.S., though former President Barack Obama authorized strikes in Libya while on a trip to Brazil in 2011.