President Donald Trump has warned that a US-Iran ceasefire is now “on life support” as negotiations between the countries appear to have hit a deadlock.
The US leader said on Monday the agreement is now “unbelievably weak”, adding that it’s “the weakest right now after reading a piece of garbage they sent us.”
He added that he “didn’t even finish reading” Tehran’s latest proposal. “Am I going to waste my time reading it? I would say it’s one of the weakest right now. It’s on life support … I would say the ceasefire is on massive life support.”
Iran hit back earlier after previous comments by Trump calling their suggestions “totally unacceptable”.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran’s proposals had been “generous” and “legitimate” in a news conference on Monday.
Iran is “demanding an end to the war, lifting the (US) blockade and piracy, and releasing Iranian assets that have been unjustly frozen in banks due to US pressure,” Mr Baghaei said.
Iran also issued a threat to the UK and France, warning that any warships in the Strait of Hormuz “will be met with decisive response”.
US issues new sanctions over Iran’s oil shipments to China
The Trump administration has announced sanctions against three people and nine companies, including four based in Hong Kong and four in the United Arab Emirates, for aiding Iran’s shipment of oil to China. The ninth company is based in Oman.
The US Treasury move follows sanctions announced on Friday on individuals and companies aiding Iranian purchases of weapons and components used to make drones and ballistic missiles.
It comes days before US president Donald Trump’s planned meeting with Xi Jinping, where he is expected to press the Chinese leader to help resolve the standoff with Iran and reopen the critical Strait of Hormuz.
Treasury said the new designations by the Office of Foreign Assets Control were aimed at individuals and entities that helped Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps sell and ship its allotment of Iranian oil to China using a series of front companies.T
reasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration would keep using sanctions to deprive the Iranian government and military of funding for weapons, its nuclear program or support for proxies in the region.
“Treasury will continue to cut the Iranian regime off from the financial networks it uses to carry out terrorist acts and to destabilize the global economy,” Bessent said.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar12 May 2026 04:15
Iran war briefing:
- US president Donald Trump has claimed the Iran ceasefire is on “life support” after rejecting Tehran’s latest proposal, which officials said included some nuclear concessions
- Iran sent its response to the latest US proposal to end the Iran war via Pakistani mediators over the weekend, but Trump rejected it in a social media post as “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!”
- The US government has imposed sanctions against three people and nine companies, including four based in Hong Kong and four in the United Arab Emirates, for aiding Iran’s shipment of oil to China
- Oil prices rose in early Asian trade this morning as negotiations to end the war between the US and Iran appeared fragile
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar12 May 2026 04:05