U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that the weeks-long ceasefire with Iran remains in effect but is on "massive life support," signaling that Washington will continue pursuing diplomacy with Tehran despite rejecting Iran's latest proposal.
"I would say the ceasefire is on massive life support," Trump told reporters at the White House, describing the current truce as "unbelievably weak."
Trump again slammed Iran's latest response to the White House peace plan, which he rejected one day earlier, calling it "totally unacceptable," stressing that any peace deal between Washington and Tehran would require Iran to pledge to stop pursuing a nuclear program.
He accused Iran of reneging on an agreement to give up its enriched uranium and allow the United States to remove it. "They did two days ago," Trump told reporters. "But they changed their mind, because they didn't put it in the paper."
Iran sent its response to the latest U.S. proposed text for ending the war to the Pakistani mediator on Sunday.
Elaborating on Iran's peace proposal at a weekly press conference on Monday, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said that the nation's primary priority was to end all regional warfare while remaining committed to sincere diplomatic engagement.
Baghaei added that ending the war in West Asia, stopping U.S. "maritime piracy" against Iranian ships in the form of a naval blockade, releasing the assets belonging to Iranian people that have been blocked in foreign banks for years, ensuring safe traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, and establishing peace and security in the entire region are not "excessive demands."
Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on Monday that the country's armed forces are ready to give a "lesson-teaching" response to any aggression.
His remarks on social media platform X came after U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday dismissed Iran's Sunday response to a U.S. proposal, warning that the ceasefire between the two countries is "on massive life support."
"Our armed forces are ready to give a lesson-teaching response to any aggression," Qalibaf said, stressing, "We are ready for all options. They will be surprised."
Over the past weeks, the two sides have reportedly exchanged several proposed plans outlining conditions for ending the conflict through Pakistani mediation.
A ceasefire between the warring parties took effect on April 8, followed by talks between Iranian and U.S. delegations in Pakistan's Islamabad on April 11 and 12 that ended without an agreement. Later, the United States imposed its own blockade on the strait.
The United States and Israel conducted joint strikes on Tehran and other Iranian cities on Feb. 28, killing Iran's then Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, other senior Iranian officials and civilians. Iran responded with missile and drone attacks against Israel and U.S. interests in the region and tightened control over the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump says US-Iran truce on "massive life support" as diplomacy continues
