Ceasefire remains in effect as U.S., Iran exchange fire

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(The Center Square) – The ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran remains in effect despite strikes against the Islamic Republic and the country’s supreme leader renewing threats against the U.S.

The Trump administration described the strikes as defensive, targeting Iranian boats that were reportedly laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, with Iran responding by launching missiles towards U.S. aircraft, leading to American forces attacking the launchers.

The exchange of fire between the two countries comes amid renewed talks, with President Donald Trump seemingly optimistic that the U.S. and Iran are getting close to reaching a deal.

Despite the ongoing negotiations, Trump posted to Truth Social on Sunday evening, reiterating that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, demanding the Islamic Republic turn over its enriched uranium, or “nuclear dust” as the president called it.

Trump said it should be “immediately turned over” to the U.S. to be destroyed or to offer an alternative for Iran to destroy it “in place or, at another acceptable location, with the Atomic Energy Commission, or its equivalent, being witness to this process and event.”

While the president is pushing hard for a deal to be made, he maintains that time is on the side of the U.S.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that it may take several more days to finalize a draft, though he underscored that “it’s either going to be a good deal, or there isn’t going to be one.”

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who was thought to be seriously injured in the strikes that killed his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, released an ominous statement Monday, bringing any deal between the U.S. and Iran into question.

Khamenei renewed calls for “death to America” and “death to Israel,” saying they will become a “slogan” of the “Islamic nation and the oppressed of the world.”

The president is set to host a cabinet meeting on Wednesday at Camp David, where Iran will likely be a topic of discussion, as the ceasefire has been in place for nearly two months since it was first implemented on April 8.