U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday (May 11, 2026) said the ceasefire with Iran was at its “weakest” and on “massive life support”, a day after he rejected Tehran’s proposal to end the months-long war as “totally unacceptable”.

Also read: West Asia war updates on May 11, 2026

“It is at its weakest… After reading that piece of garbage they sent us… It’s on life support, massive life support,” Mr. Trump told reporters at the Oval Office in response to a question on the ceasefire with Iran in the wake of the rejection of the peace proposal.

During an event on Maternal Healthcare at the White House, Mr. Trump asked the participants to keep their remarks short, as he had a meeting with a large group of generals on the issue of Iran.

Mr. Trump received the Iranian proposal on Sunday (May 10, 2026) amid hopes that it could lead to a breakthrough to end the war with Iran that began on February 28, blocking the key sea route for global oil supplies, leading to fuel shortages in several countries.

“I have just read the response from Iran’s so-called  Representatives.’ I don’t like it,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform on Sunday (May 10, 2026), calling the response “totally unacceptable”.

On Monday (May 11, 2026), the President described Iran’s proposal as a “piece of garbage” which he was not going to waste time reading.

“They think that 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. We’re going to have a complete victory,” Mr. Trump said.

“I have the best plan ever. Iran has been defeated militarily. Totally. They have a little left; they probably built up during this period of time. We’ll knock that out in about a day. But I have a plan. You know, that’s a very simple plan. I don’t know why you don’t say it like it is. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. They’re very dangerous. They’re very volatile,” Mr. Trump said.

Asked about the status of the ceasefire with Tehran, Mr. Trump said it is “unbelievably weak.”

“I would say I would call it the weakest right now. After reading that piece of garbage, they sent us. I didn’t even finish reading it. They said, I’m not going to waste my time reading it. I would say it’s one of the weakest right now,” he said.

The President also said that Iran told him that the U.S. would have to dig out the “nuclear dust” at its facilities because it is buried so deep that they can’t get to it.

Mr. Trump said that he doesn’t know at this moment how the U.S. would get into Iran to proceed with the removal. He said it is a matter for further negotiation.

The U.S. and Israel’s war on Iran started on February 28, and attacks have been paused since April 8, when the warring sides agreed to a ceasefire. The U.S. and Iran have been negotiating a deal to end the hostilities for good, but peace has been elusive so far.

Pakistan hosted one round of direct talks between Iran and the U.S. on April 11, but the two sides failed to reach an agreement.

The U.S. has been insisting that Iran give a clear commitment to end its uranium enrichment programme in exchange for the lifting of sanctions and release of billions in frozen Iranian funds.

The negotiations also entail both Iran and the U.S. lifting the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a key passageway for one-fifth of the global crude supplies.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday (May 7, 2026) he had met with the country’s Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen in public since his appointment in early March.

Mr. Pezeshkian did not say when their meeting took place.

“What struck me most during this meeting was the vision and the humble and sincere approach of the supreme leader of the Islamic revolution,” the President said in a video broadcast by State television.

Mr. Khamenei, wounded in strikes on the first day of the West Asia war that claimed the life of his father and predecessor, Ali Khamenei, has released only written statements since his appointment.

His 86-year-old father was killed after more than three decades at the helm of the Islamic republic.

Ali Khamenei himself had succeeded the founder of the republic Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989.

Mr. Mojtaba’s appointment by Iran’s Assembly of Experts, an 88-member body responsible for selecting the Supreme Leader, was announced by state television on March 9.

Since then, portraits of the 56-year-old have become ubiquitous in the streets of Iran, but the new leader has been conspicuous in his absence from the public stage, in stark contrast to frequent appearances made by his father.

A senior Iranian military officer said on Saturday (May 2, 2026) that renewed fighting between the U.S. and Iran was “likely”, hours after President Donald Trump said he was “not satisfied” with a new Iranian negotiating proposal.

Iran delivered the draft to mediator Pakistan on Thursday (April 30, 2026) evening, state media reported without detailing its contents.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Islamabad again on Sunday (April 26, 2026) as Pakistan’s political and military leadership scrambled to reignite ceasefire talks between Tehran and Washington.

Mr. Araghchi had left Pakistan’s capital late Saturday (April 25, 2026), creating confusion around an expected second round of talks, but he returned to Islamabad before continuing on to Moscow, Iranian state media said. He had been in Oman, which previously mediated talks and is located on the other side of the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

The Strait of Hormuz remained closed on Sunday (April 19, 2026) in the stand-off between Iran and the United States, with Iran’s powerful Speaker of Parliament signalling a final peace deal was “far” off despite movement in negotiations.

As mediation efforts continued following high-level talks in Pakistan that failed to reach a deal, Iran said it would not reopen the crucial maritime trade route until the United States ended its blockade of Iranian ports.

No date has been set for the next round of Iran–U.S. peace talks brokered by Pakistan following the failure of an initial round, Iran’s deputy foreign minister said on Saturday (April 18, 2026).

“Until we agree on the framework, we cannot set a date,” Saeed Khatibzadeh told journalists on the sidelines of an annual diplomatic forum in Turkey’s southern Antalya province.

(This article is part of the View From India newsletter curated by The Hindu’s foreign affairs experts. To get the newsletter in your inbox every Monday, subscribe here.)

“A whole civilisation will die, never to be brought back again.” — That’s what Donald Trump, President of the United States of America, said six days ago, issuing an ultimatum to Iran, to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran, in turn, warned that its response would deprive the U.S. and its allies of oil and gas for years.

An ​unnamed ‌source told Iran’s semi-official ​Fars ⁠news agency on ‌Friday (April 3, 2026) that ‌Tehran ‌had rejected ⁠a ⁠U.S. proposal for a ​48-hour ‌ceasefire.

The source said the ‌proposal was ​made on Wednesday (April 1, 2026) ⁠through another country, ‌which was not named.

Iran-Israel war LIVE updates

There was ‌no immediate ​comment or confirmation ⁠from the ⁠U.S.

The refusal highlights a continued hardening of Tehran’s position amidst the current regional situation.

The collapse of these diplomatic efforts coincides with a sharp escalation in military hostilities. American forces have successfully retrieved a crew member from a U.S. fighter jet that was brought down over Iran, according to a report by CNN, citing three sources familiar with the situation.

The rescued individual is reportedly alive and has been placed “in U.S. custody and receiving medical treatment”, as confirmed by two of the sources. However, while one person has been recovered, the fate of the second crew member remains uncertain.

CNN reported that “search and rescue operations were ongoing” following the loss of the aircraft over Iranian territory. Technical details provided by a U.S. source confirmed that the downed plane was an “F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet”.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Tuesday (March 31, 2026) that they would target leading U.S. technology firms like Apple, Google and Meta if more Iranian leaders were killed in “targeted assassinations”.

“These companies, starting from 8:00 pm (1630 GMT) Tehran time on Wednesday (April 1, 2026), should expect the destruction of their relevant units in exchange for every assassination in Iran,” the Guards said in a statement listing the names of 18 companies it alleged were complicit in the killing of officials.

“We advise the employees of these institutions to immediately leave their workplaces to preserve their lives,” it added.

The threat comes as President Donald Trump says he is conducting diplomacy aimed at putting an end to the conflict, while also threatening to amplify the U.S.-Israeli campaign against the Islamic republic.

The Guards’ statement said the U.S. government and tech giants had “ignored our repeated warnings regarding the necessity” of halting operations targeting top Iranian officials, alleging that the tech firms are the “main element in designing and tracking assassination targets”.

As a result, these 18 companies — who also included Intel, Microsoft, and Oracle, as well as electric car company Tesla, analytics firm Palantir, and chip giant Nvidia — risk retaliation, the statement said.

“Companies that actively participate in terrorist designs will face reciprocal action for every targeted assassination,” the statement said.

The warning did not specify where the action would take place, but it added:

“Residents around these terrorist companies in all countries of the region are also advised to leave their locations within a one-kilometre radius and move to a safe place.”

In early March, Amazon reported that two of its data centres in the United Arab Emirates were “directly struck” by drones and one in Bahrain damaged by a nearby attack.

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Revolutionary Guards commander-in-chief Mohammad Pakpour were killed on the first day of the war on February 28, with the US and Israel seeking to kill an entire echelon of the Iranian leadership.

The Islamic republic’s powerful security chief, Ali Larijani, has also been killed, as have many other prominent figures.

Israel and the United States say they have dealt a major blow to Iran by killing top officials, but some analysts say the Islamic republic is showing resilience and capacity to recover from the setbacks.

Also on Tuesday, Iran’s army said that in response to attacks on Iranian infrastructure its drones had targeted key “communications, telecommunications and industrial centres” in Israel including centres of industrial giants Siemens close to the main international airport and AT&T in the city of Haifa.