Iran’s chief negotiator on Tuesday (May 12, 2026) issued an ultimatum to the United States to accept the conditions in Tehran’s 14-point proposal for peace in the West Asia war or face “failure”.

The defiant message came after U.S. President Donald Trump rejected the latest counteroffer from Iran and said that a fragile ceasefire in place since April 8, 2026 was on “life support”.

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But Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Washington had to accept Tehran’s “rights” if it wanted to end more than two months of conflict, as peace talks remain deadlocked after an initial round failed to produce a breakthrough last month.

“There is no alternative but to accept the rights of the Iranian people as laid out in the 14-point proposal. Any other approach will be completely inconclusive; nothing but one failure after another,” said Mr. Ghalibaf in a post on X.

“The longer they drag their feet, the more American taxpayers will pay for it.”

Iran has refused to back down in its war with Washington, with military officials warning they are prepared to respond to any renewed U.S. attack.

It has choked traffic through the key Strait of Hormuz trade route, rattling global markets and giving it vital leverage, while the U.S. has imposed its own naval blockade on Iranian ports.

Details of the latest U.S. proposal remain limited, though media reports say it involves a one-page memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the fighting and establishing a framework for negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry said its response called for ending the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, halting the U.S. naval blockade on Iranian ports and securing the release of Iranian assets frozen abroad under longstanding sanctions.

It did not elaborate on what Iran would offer in return.

On Tuesday (May 12, 2026), the spokesman for Iran’s Parliamentary National Security Commission said lawmakers would consider the possibility of enriching uranium to weapons-grade levels if conflict resumed.

“One of Iran’s options in the event of another attack could be 90% enrichment. We will examine it in parliament,” Ebrahim Rezaei wrote in a post on X.

Tehran possesses a significant stockpile of uranium enriched to 60% purity, with roughly 90% required for a nuclear weapon.

Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium remains a key sticking point in negotiations with the United States, which insists the material must be transferred out of the country.

Iran has so far refused to move its enriched uranium stockpile abroad and insists on its right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy, though it has said the level of enrichment remains “negotiable”.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday (February 25, 2026) dismissed U.S. claims about its missile programme as “big lies”, after President Donald Trump said Tehran was developing missiles that can strike the United States.

“Whatever they’re alleging in regards to Iran’s nuclear programme, Iran’s ballistic missiles, and the number of casualties during January’s unrest, is simply the repetition of ‘big lies’,” Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said on X.

Mr. Baqaei did not specify exactly which claims he was responding to, but hours earlier Mr. Trump had said Iran was seeking missiles that could reach American soil.

In an interview with Al Jazeera this month, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran lacked the capability to target the U.S. but would attack American bases in the Middle East if Washington launched a strike.

During his State of the Union speech, Mr. Trump also reiterated that Iran would never be allowed to build a nuclear weapon, saying Tehran’s leaders were “at this moment again pursuing their sinister nuclear ambitions”.

Iran has repeatedly denied it is seeking a nuclear weapon but insists it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

The U.S. President also claimed that Iranian authorities killed 32,000 people during a wave of protests that started in December and peaked on January 8 and 9.

Iranian officials acknowledge more than 3,000 deaths, but say the violence was caused by “terrorist acts” fuelled by the United States and Israel.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) has recorded more than 7,000 deaths, while warning the full toll is likely far higher.

Mr. Trump’s claims come after Washington and Tehran concluded two rounds of Oman-mediated talks aimed at reaching a deal on the nuclear programme, with the third-round set for Thursday (February 26).

Washington has repeatedly called for zero uranium enrichment by Iran but has also sought to address its ballistic missile programme and support for militant groups in the region, demands Iran has rejected.

Mr. Trump, who has ratcheted up pressure on Iran to reach an agreement, has deployed a significant naval force to the Middle East.

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Sunday (February 1, 2026) that recent anti-government protests that saw killings and vandalism were akin to “a coup”.

“They [rioters] attacked the police, government centres, IRGC centres, banks, and mosques, and burned the Koran. It was like a coup,” Mr. Khamenei said, adding that “the coup was suppressed”.

“Just as the recent sedition was not the first sedition in Tehran, it will not be the last sedition, and such incidents may be repeated in the future,” he added.

The authorities’ response to the protests prompted U.S. President Donald Trump to threaten to intervene militarily, deploying an aircraft carrier group to Middle Eastern waters.

The U.S. had carried out strikes on nuclear facilities in June during its ally Israel’s 12-day war against Iran, before quickly moving to declare a ceasefire. Mr. Khamenei on Sunday (February 1, 2026) warned: “The Americans should know that if they start a war, this time it will be a regional war.”

He was speaking on the 47th anniversary of the return from exile of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who founded the Islamic Republic in 1979, toppling the U.S.-backed Pahlavi dynasty. Mr. Khamenei accused the US of wanting to “swallow Iran” and return to the days of the monarchy.

“They want to take over this country, just as they had taken over it for 30 years. They had the resources. They had the oil. They had the politics,” he said. “Their hands have been cut off. They want to go back to the same situation as the Pahlavi era.”

The recent demonstrations in Iran began as an expression of discontent at the high cost of living, but grew into a mass anti-government movement, which the country’s leaders have described as “riots” fomented by the United States and Israel.

Tehran has acknowledged more than 3,000 deaths during the protests, but insists that most were members of the security forces and innocent bystanders, attributing the violence to “terrorist acts”.

However, the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said it has confirmed 6,713 deaths, mostly protesters.