Despite ceasefire: US President Trump announces further attacks on Iran

The background to the escalation is the downing of a US combat helicopter. According to the US military, it was a "Corsair" type drone, part of a US Navy special unit. The two-person crew was rescued. Trump held Tehran responsible for the loss of the helicopter and announced retaliation. The Iranian Foreign Ministry stated that Iran must reconsider talks with Washington after repeated violations of the ceasefire.

Trigger: Downing of a US helicopter

On Wednesday night, the US military flew three waves of attacks within four hours, according to its own statements. A total of 20 targets were struck, including air defense systems, control stations, and radar installations in the Strait of Hormuz area. The Pentagon spoke of a proportionate response. According to Iranian media reports, civilian facilities were also hit, leaving 20,000 people in the south of the country without water supply.

Iran responded with retaliatory strikes on US bases in the Gulf region and in Jordan. Trump called on both sides for an immediate ceasefire, after which both sides declared they would stop their attacks. However, ARD correspondent Gudrun Engel in Washington said: Von einer Waffenruhe kann man hier jetzt nicht mehr sprechen. Dazu sei die Situation in der gesamten Region zu fragil.

Diplomacy under pressure: Trump wavers between threats and confidence

In parallel with the military strikes, Trump also intensified verbal pressure on Tehran. Wir standen kurz vor einem Abkommen, aber sie halten uns hin, sie halten uns weiterhin zum Narren, he criticized the Iranian leadership. At the same time, he struck a surprisingly confident tone in a statement: Wir befinden uns in den letzten Zügen dessen, was ein sehr, sehr gutes Abkommen sein wird. He saw the conclusion of negotiations within the next two or three days.

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth underscored his president's threats. Die Angriffe könnten heftig ausfallen, he said, suggesting they could take place later that same night. The goal was not to restart the war but to create the conditions for an agreement. He said attacks tonight could be fierce. When asked whether bridges and power plants would also be taken out, he declined to commit.

Hegseth announces fierce attacks

According to calculations by CNN, Trump has announced an imminent deal with Tehran at least 38 times in recent weeks, with the count also including the period before the ceasefire on April 8. Trump also stated, according to Reuters, that Tehran had agreed not to possess nuclear weapons. Both sides had declared a truce in recent weeks, with the ceasefire officially in effect since April 8.

Hamidreza Aziz of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs summarized the fragile situation in a statement to the Wall Street Journal: Es ist eine sehr heikle Lage. Trump had previously played down the helicopter incident ("no big deal"). The contradictory signals from Washington highlight the unpredictability of the current phase. Keine Reaktion hätte man den USA als Schwäche auslegen können, diplomatic circles said of the logic of the retaliatory strikes.

Fragile ceasefire since April 8

Dieses Gleichgewicht ist nicht stabil, da die Gefahr von Fehleinschätzungen und einer ungewollten Eskalation besteht. That is how observers summarized the situation. Tehran had initially tried to present the helicopter shootdown as an accident, which was interpreted in Washington as an attempt at appeasement. Die iranischen Streitkräfte seien ein einziges Chaos, Trump wrote after the attacks.