Trump Threatens New Attacks, Says Iran Ceasefire On ‘Life Support’
President Donald Trump is warning that the fragile ceasefire arrangement with Iran is barely holding together, saying the truce is “on life support” after he rejected Tehran’s latest proposal to halt the war.
Speaking to reporters inside the Oval Office, Trump delivered a blunt assessment of the negotiations and made clear that he viewed Iran’s latest message as unserious.
“It’s unbelievably weak,” Trump said. “I would call it the weakest right now, after reading that piece of garbage they sent us. I didn’t even finish reading it. I said, ‘I’m not going to waste my time reading it.’ The ceasefire is on life support.”
The remarks come amid heightened tension between Washington, Jerusalem, Tehran, and regional governments attempting to prevent the conflict from spiraling into a broader war.
Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, issued a statement praising the Iranian people for what he called “heroic action” against two “terrorist global armies.”
The message, attributed to Khamenei and distributed by Iranian state media, was released to mark the second anniversary of the death of former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash in May 2024.
According to the statement, Iran is engaged in a historic resistance against two “terrorist global armies” through what the regime described as courageous national action.
Mojtaba Khamenei became Iran’s supreme leader after his father, who had ruled the country for 36 years, was killed in a U.S. or Israeli airstrike on Feb. 28, the first day of the conflict.
Since then, the younger Khamenei has not appeared publicly or communicated directly. U.S. officials believe he remains alive, though he reportedly suffered severe injuries in the same strike that killed his father.
Iranian state media presenters have continued to read statements attributed to him throughout the war, as Tehran attempts to project strength despite uncertainty surrounding its leadership.
At the same time, diplomatic efforts are intensifying.
Iranian state outlets reported that Pakistani Interior Minister and Senator Syed Mohsin Reza Naqvi arrived in Tehran on Wednesday for meetings as Islamabad pushes for a peace agreement to end the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran.
The reports did not say which Iranian officials Naqvi would meet, but diplomatic sources told CBS News that the trip, his second in less than a week, was part of Pakistan’s expanded effort to broker a resolution as tensions rise between the United States and Iran.
“Pakistan has doubled its efforts to find a solution,” a senior Pakistani diplomat told CBS News, adding that Islamabad understood frustrations, “but restarting war would be a total disaster for everyone.”
President Trump said Monday that he had called off planned new strikes on Iran at the request of several Persian Gulf allies, who told him “serious negotiations are now taking place” toward a possible deal to end the war.
Pakistan has also moved to strengthen its diplomatic presence in Tehran. On Tuesday, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said the country’s ambassador-designate to Iran, Imran Ahmed Siddiqui, met with Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar before leaving to assume his post.
Dar “highlighted Pakistan’s constructive and responsible role in promoting regional peace, dialogue, and stability, and expressed confidence that the Ambassador-designate would make a valuable contribution towards further strengthening the enduring partnership between the two brotherly countries,” the ministry said in its statement.
Despite those diplomatic moves, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued a direct threat, warning that any renewed U.S. or Israeli attacks would trigger retaliation “beyond the region.”
In a statement, the IRGC claimed Iran had not yet brought “all the capacities” of the country “into action.”
“But if aggression against Iran is repeated, the regional war that had been warned of will this time spread beyond the region, and our crushing blows will bring you to ruin in places you cannot even imagine,” the statement said.
“We are men of war, and you will witness our power on the battlefield,” the IRGC added, “not in hollow statements or on social media pages.”
Trump, however, made clear that the United States is not intimidated by Iranian threats.
The President told reporters Tuesday that he had been just “an hour away” from ordering new strikes on Iran Monday evening, but paused the operation after several Persian Gulf allies urged restraint and expressed optimism that a deal could still be reached.
Still, Trump warned that if Tehran refuses to come to a serious agreement, he could order a major new wave of strikes “on a moment’s notice.”
For conservatives, the moment reflects a familiar Trump doctrine: peace through strength, backed by the credible threat of overwhelming force.
While regional allies work to keep negotiations alive, Trump’s message to Tehran is unmistakable. The United States is willing to talk, but it will not accept weakness, delay tactics, or threats from a regime that continues to destabilize the region.