US-Iran ‘technical talks’ ongoing despite tit-for-tat strikes

Gulf states that have been mediating talks between the U.S. and Iran are reportedly working behind the scenes to put the pieces of the memorandum of understanding from June 17 back together, with officials from Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia working to lower the tensions on both sides, according to Axios.

Earlier this week, Trump lambasted the Iranian leaders, ranting about how difficult their team has been to negotiate with.

“They’re sick. There’s something wrong with them,” Trump said during an event at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey. “We said, ‘You should go and do your funeral stuff,’ and instead of that they start shooting rockets at ships yesterday.”

“As far as I’m concerned, it’s over,” Trump said of the ceasefire agreement. “I’ll speak to our negotiators. They want to negotiate. They’re good people — Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner — but they have to come back to me, and as far as I’m concerned, it’s just a waste of time dealing with them.”

WHAT ARE TRUMP’S OPTIONS NOW THAT HE’S SAID THE CEASEFIRE IS OVER?

During the summit, Iran and the U.S. traded strikes back and forth. Iran attacked ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz and claimed to target U.S. assets in the region. The U.S. responded by striking around 90 targets Wednesday evening, and Trump said they hit Kharg Island the night before.

“We attacked Kharg Island last night, knocked out a piece,” Trump said Wednesday. “I said, ‘Don’t touch the oil, because maybe we’ll take over Kharg Island.’”