WASHINGTON–President Donald Trump said on Monday that the ceasefire with Iran was "on life support," after dismissing Tehran's response to a U.S. peace proposal as "stupid."
"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 of the ceasefire. "It's on life support."
Days after Washington floated a proposal aimed at reopening negotiations, Iran on Sunday released a response focused on ending the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, where U.S. ally Israel is fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorists.
Tehran also demanded compensation for war damage, emphasized its sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, and called on the United States to end its naval blockade, guarantee no further attacks, lift sanctions, and remove a ban on Iranian oil sales.
Trump told reporters he has “the best plan ever” to end the war with Iran.
“You know, in war, you have to change, you have to be flexible, you have a lot of plans, but you have to do different plans in different days,” Trump said.
“But I have a great plan—but the plan is they cannot have a nuclear weapon,” he added. “And they didn’t say that in their letter.”
On Monday, Trump also claimed Iran is willing to give the United States "the nuclear dust", referring to Iran's enriched uranium stockpile.
“They told me, number one, you’re getting it, but you’re going to have to take it out,” Trump said of the uranium buried under the nuclear sites that the US bombed last year. “The site was so obliterated that there’s only one or two countries in the world that could get it.”
Trump added that China was the other country the Iranians said was capable of retrieving the uranium.
Despite those discussions, Trump said Iran did not include that agreement as part of its latest submission to the US.
“They just can’t get there,” he said. “They agree with us and then they take it back.”