White House Prepares for Potential Multi-Day Exchange of Fire With Iran Over Strait of Hormuz

According to Axios, the White House is preparing for what U.S. officials said could become a multi-day or multi-week exchange of fire with Iran centered on the Strait of Hormuz, with the duration depending on Tehran’s next moves and whether Iran continues attacks on commercial ships transiting the strait. President Trump said Wednesday that a 60-day ceasefire outlined in a U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding was “over” after an exchange of fire triggered by Iranian attacks on commercial ships, after which the U.S. launched a second round of strikes near the strait that included infrastructure targets inside Iran for the first time in months; Iran then retaliated with attacks on U.S. bases in Kuwait and Bahrain. Trump later told reporters on Air Force One that Iranian officials had “called” and “want to make a deal,” though Axios said it was unclear what call he was referring to and Iranian officials did not immediately confirm direct outreach; Iran’s top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, warned on X that the strait would reopen only on Tehran’s terms. Vice President Vance said Wednesday that the U.S. position is that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open and that any attempt to close it would draw a U.S. military response.