U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday called Iran “scum” and “sick in the head”  and said that the memorandum of understanding is “over.”

Responding to a reporter’s question on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Trump said: “I think it’s over. They’re sick people. They’re led by sick people. And they’re vicious, violent people. And if they had a nuclear weapon, they’d use it. As far as I’m concerned, it’s over. It’s just a waste of time dealing with them.”

“We said, ‘Go and do your funeral stuff,’ and instead of that, they start shooting rockets at ships yesterday. And so we hit them very hard last night, very hard- 20 times harder than before.”

“They want to take out the US leader — me. I’m on whatever list. I saw this morning I’m on every single one of their lists. And so far, I guess I’ve been a bit lucky, but maybe that doesn’t last very long,” he says.

“These are evil, sick people. And we have to root out that cancer. That cancer. You know what you do? You’ve got to cut out cancer early. And that’s the way I feel.”

However, Trump said minutes later that US negotiations with Iran can continue. “Now, I’ll let our wonderful negotiators keep talking if they want, but I don’t see it. I don’t like these people.”

Trump continued with his diatribe against the Islamic Republic, saying that it murdered 54,000 of its own people during protests, retaining its vicious rule through killings. “You know, when people say, ‘How come they haven’t taken over? They can’t take over because they’re dead. They killed them. Nobody’s going to take over. They have no guns, and the other side has machine guns, and they’re killing them. The press doesn’t report it, but they’re bad people, and frankly, I don’t want to waste my time with them.”

Trump’s statements came after Iran’s most recent violation of the ceasefire, during which they attacked two oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. In response, the US carried out extensive attacks on Iran. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps responded by launching strikes on US military targets in Bahrain and Kuwait.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday morning, citing a senior U.S. official, that the US strikes against Iranian targets were four to five times more extensive than previous strikes since the “ceasefire” was signed. At the same time, the official emphasized that the United States still considers the ceasefire to remain in effect.

Following the overnight exchange of attacks, Iran’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying, “Violations of the arrangements in the Strait of Hormuz and the ongoing Israeli strikes in Lebanon are rendering the interim agreement ineffective. The Iranian Foreign Ministry reiterates its warning to countries in the region not to allow the United States to use their territory to launch attacks against Iran.”

In a parallel move, the Trump administration announced it is reimposing sanctions on Iranian oil sales, reversing one of the key concessions granted under last month’s memorandum of understanding. The sanctions had been lifted as part of an agreement that led Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Oil markets reacted immediately, with Brent crude futures surging more than 5% following the announcement.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)