Flareups between the U.S. and Iran show that the “ceasefire has broken down” between the two countries, US Ambassador Mike Waltz said on “This Week” with co-anchor Martha Raddatz, and “all options are on the table” for President Donald Trump in the conflict.
The US struck targets inside Iran Saturday after Iran attacked a commercial vessel in the Strait of Hormuz and declared the waterway closed. The provocation from Tehran came after senior US officials told reporters in Washington they expected the regime to apologize for its prior attacks in the regime.
One of the officials said earlier Iranian strikes in the strait this week were directed by “errant” groups in the Iranian government.
Cargo ships anchored near the Strait of Hormuz off the eastern coast of the United Arab Emirates at Khor Fakkan, July 12, 2026.
AFP via Getty Images
Waltz said he believed that was likely not the case.
“I don’t buy it. I don’t think we buy it,” Waltz said, adding the regime is known to be disciplined and united in its actions. He cited a brutal crackdown on tens of thousands of protesters orchestrated by the Tehran government in January.
Waltz condemned Iran’s response to US strikes yesterday. Gulf countries including Oman, where Iranian officials visited for diplomatic talks on Saturday, reported attacks.
“The president has always said this was a performance-based [memorandum of understanding],” Waltz said. “Iran is not living up to it, and all options are on the table.”
Still, the ambassador said technical teams continued to discuss a nuclear deal, which, under the memorandum, would have to be struck within a 60 window that is already nearly halfway over.
“Those experts … are still talking even though the ceasefire has broken down,” Waltz said.
Waltz would not say whether Israel uncovered a new Iranian plot to assassinate Trump, as the Wall Street Journal and Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel, confirmed to Fox News Saturday.
Yet Waltz said the threat existed.
“Make no mistake that the Iranian regime is trying to kill President Trump and those around him,” he said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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