US President Donald Trump has grown frustrated with Iran's handling of negotiations and is now more seriously considering resuming military actions that have been halted since April, according to a report published Monday.
The US president is frustrated by Iran's continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz, as well as what he believes to be division within Iran's senior cadres, CNN reported, citing anonymous sources familiar with his discussions.
Trump has lambasted Iran's latest response to the US's peace proposal, calling it Sunday "totally unacceptable." "I would say the ceasefire is on massive life support, where the doctor walks in and says, 'Sir, your loved one has approximately a 1% chance of living'," Trump said in subsequent remarks he delivered at the White House Monday.
The sources told CNN that the response has led to officials questioning whether Iran is serious about the ongoing negotiations to permanently end the war. Some within the Pentagon and elsewhere in the administration are pushing for the president to be more aggressive with Iran, including by authorizing targeted strikes that would be intended to weaken Iran's position at the negotiating table, according to CNN. Others, however, are still pushing for additional diplomatic efforts.
Regional officials told CNN that Pakistan and other countries have sought to convey to Iran that Trump has become increasingly frustrated, and that this is the last time for them to seek a diplomatic end to the war, but Iranian officials have not heeded the warnings.
Earlier Monday, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said on X that Iran's military is "ready to give a memorable lesson to any aggression." "Wrong strategies and wrong decisions always produce wrong results. The whole world has already understood this," he said on the American social media platform. Qalibaf also warned that Iran is prepared for "all options," saying opponents "will be surprised." In a separate post on X, he said there was "no alternative" but to accept the rights of the Iranian people outlined in Tehran's 14-point proposal. "Any other approach will be completely inconclusive; nothing but one failure after another," Qalibaf wrote.
CNN reported that Trump met his national security team Monday to discuss options on Iran, and anonymous sources told the news outlet that a decision on resuming military operations is unlikely to be made before the US president departs for China Tuesday afternoon.
