US President Donald Trump said an interim agreement to end the war with Iran was "over" on Wednesday after Tehran carried out new attacks on US bases in the Gulf.
In a flare-up of hostilities that pushed oil prices up to a two-week high, Iran said it had targeted US military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait after US forces struck Iranian targets in response to attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.
The attacks further undermined efforts to turn the interim ceasefire agreement that was reached last month into a permanent peace deal to end the war, which began with US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran on February 28.
Asked before a NATO summit in Turkey whether the memorandum of understanding reached last month was over, Trump said: "It's a very interesting question. To me, I think it's over. I don't want to deal with them."
"They're scum. They're sick people. They're led by sick people," he told reporters in Ankara. "As far as I'm concerned, it's just a waste of time dealing with them."
The new attacks by Iran and the United States in the Middle East have complicated talks to end the war, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Wednesday.
"The exchanges of fire between the US and Iran further complicate already fraught talks to end the war. Iran's attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait are unacceptable," Kallas said in a post on X.
"Next Monday, EU Foreign Ministers will meet with their Gulf counterparts to discuss how we can work together to support the implementation of the agreement and preserve freedom of navigation in the Strait as well as the Red Sea."
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that he admired Donald Trump's determined stance regarding efforts to achieve lasting peace with Iran, shortly after the US president said he believed the interim ceasefire deal was over.
Speaking at the opening of the Nato summit in Ankara, Erdogan also thanked fellow allies Spain, Germany, Italy and the United States for providing air defence support to Turkey amid the war in Iran, and urged allies to be in solidarity against all forms of terrorism.
The International Maritime Organization Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez condemned new attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz and called for maximum restraint and de-escalation, in a statement on Wednesday.
