The ceasefire between the US and Iran appears to be slipping as both sides launched new strikes overnight, shattering what had, for the most part, been a two-month pause to the war. The US Central Command released new video late Wednesday, showing strikes targeting Iranian military surveillance, communication systems, air defense sites, and other facilities that posed threats to US forces and commercial ships navigating the Strait of Hormuz.

Escalation and Predicted Deal

The escalation comes after a US Army attack helicopter collided with an Iranian drone earlier this week. The incident sparked days of renewed fighting in its aftermath. Shortly after the helicopter attack, President Donald Trump predicted a deal to stop the war and reopen the Strait could come between Thursday and Friday.

President Trump said, ‘I’ve been working with Iran for a number of months, and they should sign the deal. It’s a good deal. It doesn’t give them the right to have a nuclear weapon. In fact, it totally prohibits them from ever having a nuclear weapon, and it was just tap tap tap. I don’t know what they’re doing.’ The president’s comments exemplify the back-and-forth nature of his views on ending the war.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described the retaliatory US strikes as ‘strong’ and ‘clear.’ He said, ‘As President Trump said, they’ve been tap, tap, tapping. You can see when someone’s trying to tap, tap, tap on a deal. Instead, they’re going to have tap, tap, tap bombs dropping on key facilities in Iran from the United States of America.’ Iran refuses to surrender its uranium, which could be used to build a nuclear weapon and is demanding that sanctions be lifted, among other conditions of a deal.

Original reporting: 40/29 / KHBS (NW Arkansas) — read the source article.