Pray Trump means it this time when he says the Iran cease-fire is ‘over’

Pray that President Donald Trump means it this time when he says the Iran cease-fire is “over.”

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And that he isn’t as desperate to return to it as it appears.

Because so far, Iran has only jerked us around, without giving the faintest hint it’ll ever agree to any US demands.

“I think we wasted a lot of time,” huffed Trump on Wednesday, after ordering renewed strikes on Iran in response to its attacks on three commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

Uh, no kidding!

“We should just do our business,” he added. “I don’t want to deal with them anymore. They’re scum.”

Frankly, Trump should’ve never agreed to a cease-fire deal in the first place — certainly not one that made generous concessions to Iran, as this one did, while getting virtually bupkis in return.

For starters, it’s never been clear how much power Iran’s negotiators actually hold, whether they’ll ever budge on US demands — or, most troublingly, whether they’d stick to deal they ultimately agree to.

Indeed, the fact that Iran has failed to honor even the generous terms of the cease-fire leaves little hope it would honor any permanent deal.

Instead, it’s given every reason to think it won’t.

The Strait of Hormuz, recall, was supposed to be 100% open, and hostilities were to end — yet Iran insists it controls the Strait and enforces that with attacks.

It’s launched repeated strikes, ever since the parties signed the Memorandum of Understanding in June.

Worse, satellite imagery shows Iran conducting construction projects at the Pickaxe Mountain nuclear facility, another alarming violation of the agreement.

And the ruling powers have made their intentions beyond clear in words as well as deeds: Iran’s Assembly of Experts, for example, officially called for Trump’s death, along with that of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 

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During the mourning for the former supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, shouts of “Death to America!” and “Revenge! Revenge!” dominated.

“Seeking justice against the United States and Israel for the supreme leader’s blood will remain an enduring demand of the Iranian nation,” an official Iranian foreign ministry statement read.

Does anyone really think the regime will truly give up its pursuit of nukes? Or its support for terror groups like Hezbollah? Or its desire for revenge on Americans and Israelis?

Trump responded to Iran’s latest provocations with military strikes and by reimposing sanctions.

On Wednesday, he was also mulling the idea of restoring the naval blockade on Iran, and even targeting civilian infrastructure.

Yet at the same time, he’s all but ruling out a serious effort to finish the job he and Israel admirably embarked on in February.

“I don’t think [full-scale war is] going to start again,” he declared. “Anything that happens is going to be over very quickly. . . . We’re not looking for long term.”

Huh? Isn’t he the Great Negotiator? What kind of incentive does Iran have for a deal if it knows it faces no long-term consequences for holding out?

Unless Team Trump commits to doing whatever it takes to rein in these nuke-hungry thugs, and no matter how long it takes to do it, he stands little chance of full victory.

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