Sharp rhetoric and naval blockades at the NATO summit

In a series of remarks at the NATO Summit in Ankara, the US President also said America would reimpose its naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz and called Iran’s leadership “scum” and “sick people”.

.@POTUS on Iran: “I don’t know if we’re going to have a deal… They lie and they cheat… They’ve misbehaved for 47 years. They’ve killed our soldiers; they’ve killed our people… We have a score to settle.” pic.twitter.com/RN9q1YV8b3

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 8, 2026

Retaliatory strikes ignite fresh hostilities in the Gulf

The development comes as the US military attacked Iran early on Wednesday after stating that Tehran had launched strikes against three vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Iran retaliated with strikes in Bahrain, which is home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet.

President Donald Trump speaks during a media conference flanked by, from left, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey. (AP Photo)

Fragile Memorandum of Understanding heavily compromised

The latest round of fighting in West Asia risks sinking the United States and Iran into a new cycle of retaliatory attacks, threatening the fragile Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by President Trump three weeks ago.

Conflicting stances on strategic maritime transit routes

Iranian military said Tehran would “not allow US interference” in the management of the strategic waterway and that “only safe route” for commercial ships and oil tankers “is one set by Iran.”

.@POTUS on what changed with Iran: “I think more than anything else is I got to know them — and I’m not sure I want to make a deal with them. We can play games, but I’m not sure I want to make a deal. Let’s just finish the job.” pic.twitter.com/ld7uxNV9m8

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 8, 2026

Iran’s top negotiator and parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, accused Washington of breaching the MoU. “The era of bullying and extortion is over. It leads nowhere. We don’t fold,” Ghalibaf wrote in a post on X.

Centcom objectives and executive approval from turkey

According to US Central Command (CENTCOM), the “powerful strikes” were aimed at imposing “heavy costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping crewed by innocent civilians in an international waterway.”

A US official said Trump approved the military strikes and ordered it while attending the NATO Summit in Turkey’s Ankara, Axios reported.

The official added that military strikes in southern Iran is a direct result of the “acts of international terrorism” that have been “perpetrated by Iran on innocent ships transiting the Straight of Hormuz.” The official said Iranians are aware of the consequences of such “ridiculous actions”, yet they still carried out the attacks.