Trump says Iran ceasefire is 'on massive life support, unbelievably weak'

Iran’s demand for war damages is among the issues frustrating US President Donald Trump as Washington and Tehran discuss a possible deal to end the war, the Associated Press reported, citing two regional diplomats.

The report cited diplomats as saying Trump was wary of the term “reparations” appearing in Iranian proposals because agreeing to it could be seen as acknowledging defeat.

One diplomat said Pakistan was working to broker a memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran aimed at ending the war and keeping wider talks going on unresolved issues.

The diplomat said Pakistan had support from other regional countries, and that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir had been in contact with both sides and regional governments to help ensure the ceasefire holds, the war ends and the parties agree to in-person talks next week.

Iran fired about 1,500 ballistic missiles at Israel in two rounds of fighting since 2024, and only several dozen were not intercepted, the chairman of Iron Dome maker Rafael Advanced Defense Systems said on Monday.

Yuval Steinitz told a conference of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs that Israel had no shortage of missile interceptors.

Israel’s Iron Dome has also been nearly 99% effective against missiles from Hamas and Hezbollah since October 2023, Steinitz said.

Steinitz added that any US-Iran deal should include a uranium enrichment moratorium of at least 20 years.

US Central Command said its forces had redirected 62 commercial ships and disabled four since the blockade against Iran came into effect on April 13.

Tens of millions of people could face hunger and starvation if fertilizer shipments are not soon allowed through the Strait of Hormuz, AFP reported, citing the head of a UN task force aimed at averting a humanitarian crisis.

“We have a few weeks ahead of us to prevent what will likely be a massive humanitarian crisis,” Jorge Moreira da Silva, executive director of the UN Office for Project Services and leader of the task force, told AFP.

“We may witness a crisis that will force 45 million more people into hunger and starvation,” he said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a security discussion in his office in Jerusalem on Monday after US President Donald Trump rejected Iran’s response to his ceasefire proposal, Israeli media reported.

Reports said Netanyahu’s court hearing ended earlier than scheduled due to the security meeting.