President Trump declared Wednesday that he considers the memorandum of understanding with Iran effectively finished after authorizing overnight U.S. airstrikes against 80 targets in Iran in retaliation for Tehran’s attacks on commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

Speaking publicly for the first time since ordering the military operation, Trump dismissed any interest in continuing negotiations with the Iranian regime. “I don’t like them at all. And frankly, I think we wasted a lot of time with them, I think we should just do our business,” Trump said.

Asked whether the preliminary peace agreement he signed with Iran at the Palace of Versailles in France on June 17 was now defunct, the president left little doubt about his position. “To me, I think it’s over. I don’t want to deal with them anymore. They’re scum.”

Trump continued his criticism of the Iranian leadership, saying, “They’re vicious, violent people… so far as I’m concerned, it’s over.”

He went on to argue that further diplomacy would accomplish nothing. “So far as I’m concerned, it’s just a waste of time dealing with them. They’re liars… They’re liars, they’re cheats, they’re sick people.”

The president added that while negotiations could technically continue, he had little confidence they would produce results. “Frankly, I don’t want to waste my time with them,” the president went on. “Now I’ll let our wonderful negotiators keep talking if they want, but I don’t see it.”

Financial markets reacted swiftly to Trump’s remarks. Brent crude oil surged by nearly $2 a barrel during early Wednesday trading before leveling off at roughly $76.50. U.S. stock futures also fell sharply ahead of the opening bell, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping nearly 600 points and the S&P 500 declining by almost 1%.

Iran responded defiantly, with Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf insisting that Tehran would not be intimidated. In a statement released Wednesday morning, he declared, “the era of bullying and extortion is over. It leads nowhere. We don’t fold.”

The 14-point memorandum of understanding had established a 60-day period to restore normal navigation through the Strait of Hormuz while both sides worked toward a permanent agreement addressing Iran’s nuclear program—whose dismantling was President Trump’s principal objective—as well as possible sanctions relief and the release of frozen Iranian assets.

That framework unraveled after Iran launched attacks on three commercial ships in the strategic waterway on Monday and Tuesday, following its demand that international vessels travel only along a sea lane approved by Tehran instead of the route favored by the United States and its allies near Oman.

While tensions over the Strait of Hormuz had flared repeatedly since the agreement was signed, Wednesday’s U.S. response marked a significant escalation. Trump also made the dispute personal by pointing to alleged Iranian plots targeting his life.

“They want to take out the US leader, me. I’m on every list,” he said.

Trump continued, “I saw a thing this morning, I’m on every single one of their lists. And so far, I guess I’ve been a little bit lucky. But that maybe doesn’t last very long.”

Concluding his remarks, the president said, “These are evil, sick people and we have to rid their cancer.”

Iran has increasingly sought to tighten its control over the Strait of Hormuz, including by attempting to impose transit fees on commercial shipping through the vital waterway, which carries roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil exports each year.

{Matzav.com}