Iran ‘not living up to memo of understanding, Waltz says after latest US strikes
After the US military launched an attack against Iran US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said Sunday for the third time in less than a week that “all options are on the table” and said Iran was “not in compliance” with the preliminary agreement negotiators reached in June.
“Whether you’re a party to a conflict or not, you can’t just start shooting in all directions, attacking your neighbors, attacking civilian ships, attacking civilian infrastructure, dropping mines in international waterways and behaving like the irresponsible genocidal regime that most people always blame,” Waltz said in an interview with ABC News’ “This Week” co-host Martha Raddatz. he said.
“The world stands with the United States that this is unacceptable behavior, and the President has always said this is a performance-based MOU (memorandum of understanding),” Waltz said. he added. “Iran is not acting accordingly and all options are on the table.”
ABC News – PHOTO: US Ambassador. Mike Waltz to the United Nations appears on ABC News’ “This Week” on July 12, 2026
On Saturday night, U.S. Central Command announced that it had launched a new round of attacks after Iran attacked another merchant ship in the Strait of Hormuz. According to CENTCOM, approximately 140 Iranian targets were hit in these attacks, bringing the total number of targets hit over three nights to more than 300.
On Saturday night, Iran declared the Strait of Hormuz closed; This was a clear violation of the memorandum of understanding previously signed by the United States and Iran. But Iran accused the US of violating ceasefire terms
The Iranian navy said in a statement that the ships were opened fire because they “tried to proceed along an unapproved route and did not heed our warnings and reminders to correct the route.”
“The consequences of such an intervention are the responsibility of the American-Zionist enemy and the countries that prepare their lands for the enemy base for these threats,” the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy said in a statement. The statement was included.
AFP via Getty Images – PHOTO: Cargo ships dock at Khor Fakkan near the Strait of Hormuz on the east coast of the United Arab Emirates, July 12, 2026.
Sunday morning CENTCOM Said the waterway was open and “traffic is moving.” The reality remains unclear.
“I think Iran is still in the mindset that it can use the global economy as some kind of leverage,” Waltz said. “We came together here at the United Nations with 143 countries and said that what Iran is doing violates international law.”
Iran’s attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz had led to earlier US attacks this week. In a background call with reporters Friday, senior U.S. officials said the Iranians had privately said that “the firing on the ships was due to a faulty system, a faulty part of their system that was trying to undermine the deal.”
Waltz asked, “Where is the discipline if this is to be believed?” he said. “Are we supposed to believe that some junior officers cheated and opened fire on ships, yet they did not face any consequences from a dictatorial hierarchy-based entity like the Revolutionary Guard?”
5 Middle East and Gulf countries report new attacks
He concluded: “I don’t get it. I don’t think we get it. And at the end of the day, where’s the discipline and the public apology if that’s the case? And that’s what the president and his team wanted.”
On Wednesday, Trump said that in his view, the ceasefire with Iran is “over.”
“I don’t want to deal with them anymore. They’re scum. Do you know what scum is? They’re scum. They’re sick people,” he said while in Turkey for the annual NATO summit.
But just three weeks ago, Trump was praising Iran’s leaders as “very smart” and “much less radical” than previous leaders.
“What happened there?” Raddatz pressed.
“Well, I’ll just use the president’s own words. He knew these things,” Waltz said. “This is an extremely difficult regime to deal with.”
But Waltz said the White House has not given up on negotiations.
“This regime can’t have nuclear weapons. And these experts are still talking, even if the ceasefire is broken, about what they’re going to do with their highly enriched uranium, their enrichment programs, what they’re going to do with the places we hit in Midnight Hammer.”
ABC News – PHOTO: Texas Republican Rep. Michael McCaul appears on ABC News’ “This Week” on July 12, 2026.
In a separate interview, Republican Rep. Michael McCaul praised the president’s decision to grant Ukraine the right to produce the Patriot air defense system, an advanced system that will detect and shoot down missiles and drones as its war with Russia continues.
“We have to find creative ways to get interceptors in there now,” McCaul said on “This Week.” “We have to give them a short-term band-aid to solve this problem. They are winning on the UAV battlefield. Where they are vulnerable, and I experienced this in Kiev for several nights, there is constant ballistic missile bombardment, and Putin knows they are vulnerable there, and we need to help them stop that.”
McCaul was in Ukraine over the weekend, where he met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He said that Zelenskyy wanted to end the war and that it was Russian President Putin who prevented this.
McCaul said, “The only thing that will end this is maximum pressure on Putin to come to the negotiating table. President Zelenskyy told me just yesterday that he is ready for a ceasefire, ready to negotiate. The only person who stops this peace process is Mr. Putin.”
