Khamenei Vows 'Unforgettable Lessons' as Iran Suspends Deal
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader, issued his first public statement since the war began, warning of 'unforgettable lessons' from Iran and its 'Axis of Resistance' proxies if US attacks continue and dismissing Trump's signature as 'worthless and invalid.'
- Iran suspended its commitments to the interim deal after the US 'violated its commitments,' Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi told state TV, snapping another fragile thread in the conflict over control of the Strait of Hormuz.
- Iranian strikes killed two US service members and left one missing at a base in Jordan — the first US troop deaths from direct Iranian fire since the war's opening days — while striking a Kuwaiti desalination plant and oil facility, the second desalination attack in two days for a country that depends on such plants for 90% of its drinking water.
- US Central Command carried out its seventh straight night of strikes targeting surveillance sites, military logistics, underground weapons storage, and maritime capabilities, while US airstrikes destroyed the Bonji desalination plant in Iran's Hormozgan province, cutting water to about 10,000 people and damaging a facility on strategic Qeshm Island.
- Casualty tolls since the war began with US and Israeli strikes on Feb. 28 now include at least 50 Iranians killed and over 500 wounded in three weeks, alongside 14 US service members killed and 427 wounded.
- The Strait of Hormuz battle has intensified: Iran demands sole control and fees on passing vessels, crossings fell to a three-week low, and the US reimposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports to halt crude oil shipments — while Trump has resumed threats to target Iranian power stations and bridges.
- Trump faces mounting political pressure to end a prolonged Middle East conflict he campaigned against, as the GCC secretary general accused Iran of war crimes for strikes on civilian and infrastructure targets across Kuwait, Jordan, Iraq, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia.
Why it matters: The collapse of the interim deal removes the only diplomatic off-ramp and escalates a war now hitting civilian water infrastructure on both sides: Kuwait's 90% desalination dependency and Iran's 10,000 newly cut-off residents illustrate that the widening strikes are no longer confined to military targets, while the first US troop deaths from direct Iranian fire in this phase raise the domestic political cost for Trump.
