Trump says Iran ceasefire ‘on life support’ after Tehran submitted ‘garbage’ proposal

US president says he’s considering renewing operation to escort ships through Hormuz, as Netanyahu convenes security cabinet and Iran calls US ‘greatest threat’ to world peace

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump on Monday said the ceasefire with Iran was “on life support,” a day after he rejected the proposal submitted by Iran over the weekend for a permanent truce.

“It’s unbelievably weak,” Trump said of the truce, while speaking to reporters in the Oval Office. “I would call it the weakest right now, after reading that piece of garbage they sent us. I didn’t even finish reading it.”

The US president claimed that Iranian negotiators told their American counterparts that they were prepared for the US to retrieve Tehran’s stockpiles of highly-enriched uranium, but then refrained from putting that concession in the response paper submitted over the weekend. Iran has shown no public indication that it is prepared to make such a concession.

“Two days ago, they said, ‘You’re going to have to take it.’ We were going to go with them. But they changed their mind because they didn’t put it in the paper,” Trump told reporters.

Trump also asserted that Iran’s negotiators said that the uranium stockpiles are difficult to retrieve due to Washington’s strikes on Tehran’s nuclear sites last year, and that only the US or China have the tools capable of pulling it out from underground.

He also claimed that Iranian negotiators had also “guarantee[d that they wouldn’t obtain] nuclear weapons for a very long period of time,” only to leave that out of Tehran’s official proposal as well.

The fact that Trump indicated he would have accepted such a guarantee, even though it was not indefinite, appears to be out of step with his longstanding insistence that he intends to ensure Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon.

Asked whether he still thinks he can make a deal with the current regime, Trump responded in the affirmative, while adding that it is comprised of moderates who desperately want to reach an agreement and “lunatics” who want to keep fighting.

Addressing criticism that he has no coherent plan in dealing with Iran, Trump insisted: “I do have a plan. The plan is Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.”

He then repeated his unproven claim that the US sent Kurdish militants guns for use against the Iranian regime but that the Kurds decided to keep them.

Earlier Monday, in an interview with Fox News, Trump asserted that the Iranian regime was “going to fold” in talks with the US.

Trump also said that he is considering renewing the operation to assist stuck ships out of the Iran-blocked Strait of Hormuz after he called it off last week about a day after it began. He told the TV station that if he decides to renew Project Freedom, it would “only be a piece” of a larger military operation.

Asked if he’ll need to take out another layer of Iran’s leaders amid stalled diplomatic efforts, Trump responded: “I will deal with them until they make a deal.”

A US official told The Times of Israel on Sunday evening that Trump was holding a high-level security meeting in the White House Situation Room to discuss next steps on Iran.

Participants in the meeting include Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine, and special envoy Steve Witkoff.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu on Monday convened a security consultation in his office in Jerusalem, as Israeli military officials have repeatedly asserted that Israel is ready to return to fighting at any point.

Further details on the prime minister’s discussion, reported to The Times of Israel by the office of one of the attendees, were not immediately available.

The meeting — for which Netanyahu’s testimony in his corruption trial was cut short — came the day after Trump deemed Iran’s response to an American ceasefire proposal “unacceptable,” and after the premier himself told “60 Minutes” that the war was “not over,” citing Iran’s remaining stockpile of highly enriched uranium.

It also came ahead of direct Israel-Lebanon talks in Washington later this week, and amid a continued US blockade on Iranian ports and Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei, in a press conference Monday, pronounced the US “the greatest threat to international peace and security.”

“The very presence of the United States in the region, the US military bases in the region,” said Baghaei, “are an example of creating a cycle of violence and bullying in the region.”

Contrasting what he called Iran’s “generous and responsible offer” to Washington’s “unreasonable demands,” Baghaei listed Tehran’s demands as “an end to the war, lifting the [US] blockade and piracy, and ⁠releasing Iranian assets that have ⁠been unjustly frozen in banks.”

The demands also included “safe passage through the Strait ⁠of Hormuz, ⁠and establishing security in the region and Lebanon.”

The US has been blockading Iran’s ports as Iran has blocked the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has demanded a ceasefire in Lebanon as part of the talks as well; while there is technically a truce in place there, it has largely unraveled.

“Iran has shown that it is a responsible power in the region, and at the same time, we are not bullying,” Baghaei said. “We are against bullying.”

Baghaei called on European countries not to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz, saying: “They should refrain from any move that would undermine their interests.”

“This war is not only unethical but also illegal. The US and Israel started their aggression against Iran. European countries shouldn’t be fooled,” he said.

Hours after Baghaei’s warning, however, the United Kingdom and France announced they will host a multinational meeting on Tuesday of more than 40 defense ministers, on military plans to restore trade flows through the strait.

France has already sent its nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, to the region, and the UK on Saturday said it was sending a destroyer, HMS Dragon.

The virtual meeting follows a two-day gathering in London in April of military planners who thrashed out the practicalities of a multinational mission led by the UK and France to protect navigation in the key waterway following a sustainable ceasefire.

Iran’s Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad acknowledged on state TV that the country’s oil industry has run into trouble as a result of the war and blockade, but said the country was taking countermeasures, without giving further details.

“During the 40 days of war, our production didn’t decrease and the export process was favorable,” Paknejad says. “Naturally, in the days following the (US) blockade, we have faced challenges but measures were taken and this process continues” adding that “the enemy is full of delusions.”

Agios Fanourios I, a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) tanker loaded with Iraqi crude oil and bound to Vietnam, crossed the straight through Iran’s designated route on Sunday, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency said, after it was reported that the ship crossed by switching off trackers to avoid Iranian attacks.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is expected to visit Qatar on Tuesday for talks on the Iran war, a Turkish diplomatic source told Reuters.

The discussions will focus on the war’s impact ​on the Gulf and efforts to ensure navigational ‌safety in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the source.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.