Washington: The ceasefire between the US, Israel and Iran is “on life support”, President Donald Trump says, as he meets with his generals and contemplates restarting a short-lived military mission to guide ships through the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump lashed out at Iran’s “stupid” leaders as he made his first substantive comments on the country’s response to a succinct US proposal to end the war and commence further negotiations, calling it a “piece of garbage” that he didn’t bother to fully read.
“I didn’t even finish reading it. I said I’m not going to waste my time reading it,” the president told reporters during a healthcare event in the Oval Office on Monday (Washington time). As such, he regarded the ceasefire that has been in place since April 8 as “unbelievably weak”.
“I would say the ceasefire is on massive life support,” he said, joking that it was like “where the doctor walks in and says, ‘Sir, your loved one has approximately a one per cent chance of living’.”
The Iranian counter-offer was communicated to the US through Pakistani intermediaries on Sunday, days later than Iranian government sources initially indicated – and just two days before Trump departs for a high-stakes state visit to China, one of Iran’s strategic partners.
Iran’s proposal insisted on full compensation for war damages, unfreezing Iranian assets around the world, lifting sanctions on Iran and recognising Iran’s sovereignty over the critical Strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian state media outlets.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei defended the proposal as “reasonable and generous” at a news conference on Monday (Tehran time). But any bid to recognise Iranian sovereignty over the strait – an international waterway that was open before the war – would be rejected by the international community.
“We did not demand any concessions. The only thing we have demanded is Iran’s legitimate rights,” Baghaei said. “The American side still insists on its one-sided views and unreasonable demands.”
Trump claimed the Iranian regime originally agreed to surrender its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, but had told him that it was buried so deeply underneath bombed nuclear facilities that only the US or China were physically capable of retrieving the material.
But the Iranians “changed their mind” and did not include the uranium’s forfeiture in their written counter-offer, Trump said. He also indicated the Iranian regime had not given up on its nuclear ambitions.
“The plan is they cannot have a nuclear weapon, and they didn’t say that in their letter,” he said. “They agree with us, and then they take it back.”
Trump, who as president is also commander-in-chief of the US military, said he would shortly meet with his generals, although he gave no indication of what steps were under consideration.
Separately, however, he told Fox News he was considering restarting Project Freedom – the aborted mission to guide ships through the strait using the navy and air force – as part of a broader military operation.
Senior Republicans and confidantes of the president in Congress have urged him to do so over the past 48 hours as talks with the Iranians stalled, including Roger Wicker, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and ultra-hawkish senator Lindsey Graham.
Trump said a diplomatic solution was still possible, and suggested he was not in a rush to negotiate a deal with Iran’s remaining leadership, which he said was divided between moderates and lunatics.
“They think that, well, I’ll get tired of this, or I’ll get bored, or I’ll have some pressure. But there’s no pressure, there’s no pressure at all,” he said. “We’re going to have a complete victory. We’ve already, in theory, had a complete victory from the military standpoint.”
However, Trump provided further details about interactions with Iranian Kurdish militias, based in Iraq, that show his hopes for additional military conquests against the regime at ground level did not come to fruition.
He said the US had sent guns and ammunition to the Kurds, to be distributed to Iranian protesters and used against the regime, but accused the Kurds of keeping the weapons for themselves.
“The Kurds take, take, take,” Trump said. “They have a great reputation in Congress. Congress says, ‘Oh, they fight so hard’. No, they fight hard when they get paid. So, I’m very disappointed in the Kurds. I said it wasn’t going to work.”
Trump indicated Iran would feature prominently in his talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week. He is due to leave the US on Tuesday (Washington time) ahead of a bilateral meeting and state dinner on Thursday (Beijing time) and a bilateral tea and working lunch on Friday.
Baghaei, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, argued Trump’s attempts to get Xi to use his leverage against Iran could backfire.
“Our Chinese friends know very well how to use these opportunities to warn about the consequences of the US’ illegal and bullying actions on regional peace and security,” he said.
Trump spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following the arrival of Iran’s counter-proposal. Netanyahu appeared on the US version of 60 Minutes on Sunday (US time), and said the military operation in Iran was not over.
Its highly enriched uranium had to be taken out of the country, he said, enrichment sites had to be destroyed dismantled, and its ballistic missile production had to be stopped.
