Trump Doubts Ceasefire After Rejecting Iranian Response

US President Donald Trump has cast doubt on the future of the ceasefire with Iran after sharply rejecting Tehran's response to an American peace proposal, raising fears that the ten-week-old conflict could be prolonged and further disrupt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump said the ceasefire was "on life support" and described Iran's response as the weakest he had seen. "I would call it the weakest right now, after reading that piece of garbage they sent us, I didn't even finish reading it", he said.

The United States presented a proposal aimed at resuming negotiations several days ago, but Iran published a response on Sunday that focused on ending the war on all fronts, including in Lebanon, where Israel is fighting the Tehran-backed Hezbollah militant movement.

Iran also demanded compensation for war damages, asserted its sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz and called on the United States to end a naval blockade, halt further attacks, lift sanctions and remove the ban on the sale of Iranian oil.

Trump said separately on Monday that Iran was ready to hand over its stockpile of enriched uranium, which he described as "nuclear dust", to the United States.

(reuters, bak)