‘It’s over, don’t want to deal with them, they’re scum’: Trump signals curtains for US-Iran peace deal as tensions spiral in West Asia

ANKARA: US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that the ceasefire agreement with Iran has effectively concluded for him, declaring that he no longer wishes to engage in diplomatic dealings with Tehran.

Speaking to journalists at the NATO summit in Turkey, Trump categorically stated that the peace process was over and he would not deal with Iran any longer

“To me, I think it’s over. I don’t want to deal with them anymore. They’re scum… They’re led by sick people… I’ll speak to our negotiators. They want to negotiate–they’re good people… but they have to come back to me. As far as I’m concerned, it’s just a waste of time dealing with them,” he said.

.@POTUS on the status of the ceasefire with Iran: “To me, I think it’s over. I don’t want to deal with them anymore. They’re scum… They’re led by sick people… I’ll speak to our negotiators. They want to negotiate—they’re good people… but they have to come back to me. As far… pic.twitter.com/6eYfwMxSdn

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

He labelled Iranian leaders as “liars, cheats and sick people”, while confirming that American forces had targeted “very dangerous people” within Iran during the night. “They’re liars, they’re cheats, they’re sick people. They’ve hurt their people. They killed 54,000 people — as of now — who were protesting. You know, when people say how come they haven’t taken over? They can’t take over because they’re dead,” Trump stated.

“We attacked, very powerfully last night, the very dangerous people from Iran… There’s something wrong with them. We say, ‘Go and do your funeral stuff,’ and instead of that, they start shooting rockets at ships yesterday. So we hit them very hard last night,” he added.

Earlier, amid spiralling regional tensions, Iran’s top negotiator and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf strongly hit back at Washington, detailing numerous breaches of bilateral agreements by the United States. In a post on X, the senior Iranian official enumerated several “major violations” of the MoU committed by the US administration, indicating a severe breakdown in diplomatic commitments between the two countries.

According to the Parliament Speaker, these American actions include “violating Iranian adjustments in the Strait”, “persistent threats of further strikes”, “reinstating oil sanctions”, “attacks on southern Iran”, and “continued Zionist aggression” in Lebanon.

Issuing a firm warning against Washington’s hardline approach and asserting Tehran’s refusal to back down under intense military and economic pressure, Ghalibaf concluded his statement on a defiant note. “The era of bullying and extortion is over. It leads nowhere,” he wrote on X. “We don’t fold.”

This fierce rhetorical retaliation from Tehran comes in direct response to a dramatic escalation of hostilities, with the United States launching extensive military operations against Iranian targets following fresh maritime incidents. The military actions were initiated after three vessels were struck while navigating the strategic Strait of Hormuz, an act Washington attributes directly to the Iranian armed forces.

According to an official communication from the US Central Command, the “powerful” strikes were deployed as a direct countermeasure to Iranian operations against international shipping lanes and were explicitly designed to “impose heavy costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping.” (ANI)