Trump Warns Ceasefire Is On Life Support As U.S. Plans Escalation In Iran War

Iran rejected U.S. terms for ending the conflict, handing its response to the latest U.S. proposal to Pakistan on Sunday for delivery to Washington, and President Donald Trump dismissed the reply as “totally unacceptable.”

Trump warned Monday that “the ceasefire is on life support,” as the exchange fueled expectations in Iranian media and political circles that another military confrontation may be approaching.

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a congressional hearing that the U.S. military could escalate the war if necessary, saying, “We have a plan to escalate, if necessary; we have a plan to retrograde if necessary.”

The New York Times reported that Tehran’s demands to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz included U.S. war reparations, recognition of its sovereignty over the strait, and an end to American sanctions, while Iran’s state-owned broadcaster said the demands were part of the terms for ending the fighting.

In Tehran, Arash, a 45-year-old engineer, said “Filling gasoline tanks and stocking up on food and water for emergencies has again become a priority.”

Iran’s state-linked media rejected Western reports that Tehran’s response included compromises on nuclear issues, with Tasnim News Agency denying claims that Iran’s proposal addressed the future of its nuclear materials or enrichment activities.

IRIB described the American proposal as “meaning Iran’s surrender to Trump’s excessive demands,” while Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Monday that Tehran’s proposal was “reasonable and generous,” but accused Washington of continuing to insist on “unreasonable demands.”

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Former IRGC commander-in-chief Mohammad Ali Jafari said Monday that no further negotiations would take place unless Iran’s conditions were met, even as President Masoud Pezeshkian struck a more conciliatory tone and said Iran would remain committed to any agreement reached “while taking into account the concerns of the Supreme Leader and the interests of the Iranian nation.”

The New York Times reported that an Iranian official raised the prospect of increasing nuclear enrichment if Tehran were attacked again, and Ebrahim Rezaei warned Tuesday that Tehran could consider enriching uranium to 90 percent purity if it was attacked again.

As the standoff played out, the New York Times said Trump dismissed an Iranian proposal to end the war as garbage, while hours later Trump told reporters that Tehran was in the grip of lunatics.

Qatar and Saudi Arabia discussed ways to de-escalate the region in calls between their foreign ministers, with the Qatari Foreign Ministry saying Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani spoke with Faisal bin Farhan about developments in negotiations between Iran and the United States.

The Qatari statement said the Prime Minister and Qatar's Foreign Minister stressed the “need for all parties to respond to the ongoing Pakistani-mediated mediation,” aiming to “lead to a sustainable agreement that prevents renewed escalation.”

The New York Times reported that the U.S. military could escalate the war if necessary, and it described Tehran’s demands as suggesting it could be betting that economic pain from soaring energy prices would force concessions.

The Soufan Center said the proximate cause of last week’s flare-up was the U.S. implementation of “Project Freedom,” which Iran viewed as threatening its control of the Strait and acted to disrupt, and it noted that Iran also attacked targets in the United Arab Emirates that seemingly had no connection to the operation.

The Soufan Center added that CENTCOM stated Friday that U.S. forces were preventing more than 70 tankers from entering or leaving Iranian ports, which have a collective capacity to transport over 166 million barrels of Iranian oil worth more than $13 billion.