The Iran ceasefire framework began unraveling within days. After Trump declared on June 14 that he had authorized the “toll-free opening” of the Strait of Hormuz and the removal of the U.S. naval blockade (“Ships of the World, start your engines”), Vice President JD Vance immediately walked the claim back, saying the toll-free terms still had to be negotiated, and Iran said fees would still apply.
On June 20, 2026, Iran said it had closed the Strait of Hormuz again, citing Israel's continued operations in Lebanon as a violation of the ceasefire. The reclosure prompted Trump's most extreme escalation. In an early-morning phone call described by Fox's Trey Yingst, Trump said he had warned Iran, “you close it and you won't have a country... We'll take over the rest of the country,” and threatened to resume bombing.
The formal signing scheduled for that week in Switzerland was postponed, and on June 22 Iran's delegation walked out of the talks, with negotiators saying they would not return until Trump apologized and Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon. In an Axios interview the same day, Trump called the framework an “unconditional surrender” by Iran. As of June 22 the war had not cleanly ended: the final deal was unsigned, the Strait was contested, and Israel-Hezbollah fighting in Lebanon continued. On June 23, the United States nonetheless issued oil-sanctions waivers and moved to lift the blockade, beginning to implement the deal even as its final terms stayed contested (see Trump's Iran War Framework Trades an Open Strait of Hormuz for $300 Billion in Reconstruction and a Reversal on Enrichment).