US-Iran Ceasefire Under Severe Strain — Fresh Iranian attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz prompted US strikes on over 80 targets in Iran, leading President Trump to declare the June 17 MOU “over.”

Diplomatic Track Still Alive — Despite the escalation, technical-level talks scheduled for July 11 in Islamabad have not been canceled. Mediators (Pakistan and Qatar) are working to keep the process going amid the funeral of Supreme Leader Khamenei.

Pakistan Plays a Key Mediating Role — Islamabad brokered the original ceasefire and continues to facilitate talks. The upcoming round will address core issues: Iran’s nuclear program, sanctions relief, frozen assets, and freedom of navigation in Hormuz.

With missiles firing from both sides and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s funeral ceremony underway, president Trump declaring the ceasefire is “over”, the question on everyone’s mind is the same one: will the delegations still show up in Islamabad on Saturday.

Overnight, the ceasefire that has held, however shakily, since June came under its heaviest strain yet. The United States accused Iran of striking three commercial tankers, a Saudi vessel and a Qatari one among them, as they passed through the Strait of Hormuz. Washington answered with what US Central Command described as “powerful strikes,” hitting more than eighty targets inside Iran, from radar stations to small Revolutionary Guard boats anchored near Bandar Abbas. Iran responded with missiles aimed at American installations in Bahrain and Kuwait, and air raid sirens sounded across the Gulf for the first time in weeks.

Speaking from the NATO summit in Ankara, President Donald Trump declared the ceasefire “over.” Oil markets took the statement seriously. Brent crude jumped nearly six percent within hours, a reminder of how much of the world’s energy supply still runs through a waterway that keeps threatening to shut.

And yet,........

© Eurasia Review