President Donald Trump on Monday said that what remains of the U.S. ceasefire with Iran is “on life support” after Tehran sent an “unacceptable” counter to Washington’s proposal to end the war.
The state of the month-old truce is “unbelievably weak,” Trump told 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,” Trump said.
“I would say the ceasefire is on massive life support, where the doctor walks in and says, ‘Sir, your loved one has approximately a 1% chance of living,'” he said.
The testy ceasefire began on April 8, on the heels of Trump threatening to destroy Iran’s “whole civilization” if no deal was struck. It was originally slated to last just two weeks, but Trump unilaterally extended it on April 21.
The ceasefire has been on shaky ground from its earliest days, as each side has accused the other of violating its terms.
Trump, in announcing the truce on April 7, said that the agreement was conditioned on Iran immediately reopening the Strait of Hormuz, the vital pathway for global oil shipping that has been virtually closed since the war began.
After traffic through the strait failed to pick up to prewar levels, Trump ordered a U.S. naval blockade in the Gulf of Oman to stop ships from entering or exiting Iranian ports.
The ceasefire has failed to stop all hostilities in the region. Last week alone, Iran attacked the United Arab Emirates, the U.S. and Iran traded fire in the strait and the Pentagon said it struck two Iran-flagged oil tankers.
Trump and U.S. officials insisted last week that the ceasefire remained intact, as the administration awaited a response from Iran to its reported proposal to end the war and set up further talks over Tehran’s nuclear program.
In a Truth Social post Sunday, Trump said he received Iran’s response.
“I don’t like it — TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!” he wrote.
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