President Donald Trump warned the ceasefire in the West Asia war was on “life support” Monday (May 11) after rejecting the latest counteroffer from Iran, which said its military stood ready to respond to any act of aggression.

The president’s angry reaction to Iran’s position – delivered in response to a U.S. proposal – sent oil prices soaring and dashed hopes that a deal could be quickly negotiated to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping.

After slamming the reply as “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE,” Mr. Trump insisted the United States would see a “complete victory” over Iran, adding that the truce, which has largely halted fighting in the Gulf for over a month, was on its last legs.

– AFP

Top U.S. diplomat Marco Rubio met Saturday with the leader of Mideast ally Qatar, the State Department said, highlighting the Gulf state’s role as a key intermediary for Washington as it awaited Tehran’s response on a peace proposal.

“The Secretary expressed appreciation for Qatar’s partnership on a range of issues,” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said in a statement on the meeting between Rubio and Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who is also Qatar’s Moreign Minister.

“The Secretary and the Foreign Minister also discussed U.S. support for Qatar’s defense, and the importance of continued close coordination to deter threats and promote stability and security across the Middle East.”

-AFP

The U.S. Treasury on Friday announced sanctions against ‌10 individuals and companies, including several in China and ⁠Hong Kong, for aiding efforts by Iran’s military to secure weapons and raw ‌materials used to build Tehran’s Shahed drones.

The Treasury move, ‌first reported by Reuters, ‌comes ⁠days before U.S. President Donald Trump ⁠plans to travel to China for a meeting with President Xi Jinping and as efforts ‌to end the war with Iran have stalled.

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U.S. President Donald Trump said the ceasefire with Iran was still in place Thursday, despite exchanges of fire with Iranian forces in the Strait of Hormuz.

“They trifled with us today. We blew them away,” he told reporters in Washington, insisting that talks were “going very well.”

-AFP

U.S. President Donald Trump predicted on ‌Wednesday night that the war ⁠in Iran will be over quickly, as he ‌seeks a deal to ‌end the ‌stalemate ⁠over the Strait of ⁠Hormuz and Tehran’s nuclear program.

“When you look at ‌the kind of things that are happening, we are doing ‌that for one very important reason: We ⁠cannot allow them to have a ‌nuclear weapon. So I think most people understand that. They understand that what ‌we are doing is right, and it’ll be over quickly,” Mr. ⁠Trump told a ⁠tele-rally for Georgia Republican Governor candidate ‌Burt Jones. 

-Reuters

White House officials are pressing China to use its influence with Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz just days before President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s highly anticipated summit in Beijing.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio called on Chinese officials to use Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s scheduled visit to China to urge Tehran to release its chokehold on the critical waterway.

“I hope the Chinese tell him what he needs to be told,” Mr. Rubio said during a White House briefing Tuesday. “And that is that what you are doing in the strait is causing you to be globally isolated. You’re the bad guy in this.”

-AP

U.S. President Donald Trump launched a new operation on Monday (May 4, 2026) seeking to open the Strait of Hormuz to shipping, prompting Iran to lash out in an effort to keep control of the critical ‌energy shipping route.

A handful of commercial vessels were reported to have been hit and a UAE oil port was ablaze after an Iranian strike as Mr. Trump’s attempt to use the U.S. Navy to free up shipping provoked the war’s biggest escalation since ⁠a ceasefire was declared four weeks ago. The U.S. said it destroyed six small Iranian boats.

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Pakistan is mediating the peace talks between the U.S. and Iran. The Pakistani official told PTI that the fresh Iran proposal is a phased de-escalation framework, seeking to separate immediate conflict management from the more complex and long-standing dispute over Tehran’s nuclear programme.

There are three broad components of it.

“The first component of the plan focuses on urgent de-escalation measures,” the official said.

“Iran has indicated willingness to ease tensions in and around the strategic Strait of Hormuz, provided Washington reciprocates by scaling back its military posture and easing economic pressure, including restrictions affecting Iranian oil exports,” he said.

Tehran views confidence-building steps as essential before entering substantive negotiations, the official said.

“Secondly, Iran is seeking to decouple the restoration of maritime trade and oil flows from nuclear negotiations, arguing that economic normalisation should precede any binding commitments on its nuclear activities,” he said.

The third component concerns “conditional flexibility” on the nuclear front.

“While reaffirming its position on the right to peaceful nuclear energy, Iran has indicated openness to discussing limits on uranium enrichment and enhanced monitoring mechanisms – but only within a broader agreement that guarantees tangible sanctions relief,” he said. — PTI