McRaven says Iran ceasefire already broken as Trump weighs strikes

If President Donald Trump alone decides whether Iran has violated a ceasefire, the truce becomes a political judgment, not an independently verified fact. That question now sits at the center of a widening war in which rhetoric has moved faster than the military reality over the Strait of Hormuz.

U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz said on ABC News’ “This Week” that diplomacy with Iran was still getting “every chance” and that it was “up to President Trump as commander in chief to determine what constitutes a violation” and whether to resume strikes. Trump had already told ABC News that the exchange of fire over the Strait of Hormuz was not a ceasefire breach, calling it “just a love tap,” even as Iranian officials accused the United States of violating the ceasefire.

Retired Adm. William McRaven rejected that framing outright. The former commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, who oversaw the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in 2011, said there was no ceasefire if both sides were still firing. “When you’re shooting at each other, then you no longer have a ceasefire,” he said. His criticism cuts to the core of the dispute: whether a president can declare calm in a conflict that military events on the ground do not support.

The war between the United States, Israel and Iran began on February 28, 2026, after U.S. and Israeli strikes hit Iran, and the confrontation has focused on Tehran’s nuclear and missile capabilities as well as control of the Strait of Hormuz. One U.S. proposal under discussion would reportedly have Iran gradually reopen the waterway over 30 days while the United States eased its blockade, with later talks aimed at Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile.

Iran sent its response to the latest U.S. ceasefire proposal through Pakistani mediators, according to the Associated Press. Trump dismissed that reply as “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!” Iranian state television said Tehran wanted any deal to include a permanent end to the war, war reparations, full sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, the lifting of sanctions and the release of seized Iranian assets.

The ceasefire has already been strained by drone fire off Qatar and by drones entering the airspace of the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait. The UAE said it shot down two drones and blamed Iran, while Qatar’s Foreign Ministry called the ship attack a dangerous and unacceptable escalation. Politico reported that Waltz said the U.S. Navy blockade had stopped Iranian shipping and left Iran’s economy in “absolute free-fall,” a reminder that the stakes now reach far beyond the battlefield and into global energy markets.