Five rounds of intense military escalation have occurred between Washington and Tehran since the signing of the memorandum of understanding between the two sides. This escalation carries many headings and multiple justifications, the most significant of which is the clause concerning freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.
Washington says that Iran violated the agreement when it attempted to impose its will over the right of free maritime passage for trade and tankers. Tehran says that its interpretation of Article 5 of the agreement gives it the right — as the state that geographically possesses the longest coastline on the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Gulf — to determine who may pass and who may not.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ismail Baghaei accuses American administrations of lying in their justifications for aggression against Iran. President Trump considers the ceasefire between Iran and the United States to be over. The US Treasury Department has also announced that it has suspended procedures to lift sanctions on frozen Iranian assets in the United States.
The return of tension between Iran and the United States will inevitably reopen the doors of military escalation through proxies in Yemen, Lebanon, and Iraq, and will reignite reckless military provocation against its neighbours in the region. It appears that the current of escalation, rejection of negotiation, and the logic of prioritising historical vengeance has intensified — for the logic of revenge and bloodshed today stands in confrontation with the logic of dialogue and peace.