The Donald Trump yesterday ruled that the ceasefire is on “mechanical respiratory support.”

The US president slammed the Iran to a US proposal to bring a lasting end to the war, while Tehran countered that it is ready to retaliate if attacked.

After more than a month of truce, the diplomatic process between Washington and Tehran appears to have reached an impasse – the two sides have been exchanging Pakistan proposals to consolidate the ceasefire, to no avail so far.

The Iranian counterproposal to the latest US offer is “for the trash”, US President Trump told reporters at the White House. “The ceasefire is on mechanical respiratory support, like when the doctor comes in and tells you: “sir, your loved one has exactly a 1 percent chance of living,” he added.

On the other hand, the speaker of the Iranian parliament Mohammad Bayr Galibaf countered that Iran’s armed forces are ready to “retaliate” and “teach a lesson” to any attack, adding that anyone who attacks “will be surprised.”

During a telephone interview with a Fox News reporter, US President Trump also said he intends to resume the operation to escort ships seeking to leave the Gulf via Sea of Hormuz, which Iran virtually closed after the US-Israeli war against it was launched on February 28.

It had announced its pause on May 5, the day after it began, talking about “great progress” in negotiating with Iran to reach a deal – before shaking its stern head yesterday.

The Wall Street Journal at the same time reported that the United Arab Emirates conducted military operations against Iran in April, targeting oil facilities on Lavan Island, an Iranian territory in the Gulf.

The direct involvement of the Emirates, which has not been confirmed by Abu Dhabi, may mark a turning point in the escalation in the region. To date, none of the Gulf Arab monarchies had been officially declared a belligerent party. Only the US and Israel were known to be involved in attacks against Tehran.

“Legal rights”

“The only thing we asked” is that “Iran’s legal rights” be respected, Iranian diplomatic spokesman Esmail Bagaei said yesterday.

Before listing the Islamic Republic’s claims: “an end to the war in the region,” including Lebanon, the lifting of the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports, and “the release of assets belonging to the Iranian people that have been unjustly frozen for years.”

According to the WSJ, which cited sources familiar with the matter, the Iranian proposal called for a gradual opening of the Strait of Hormuz and a simultaneous lifting of the U.S. blockade.

According to the newspaper’s sources, Iran is reportedly referring to negotiations on the country’s nuclear power program after 30 days.Iran is offering to “dilute” some of its highly enriched uranium but refuses to destroy its equipment and a 20-year moratorium on the enrichment process.

The US, Israel and other Western governments accuse Tehran of seeking to acquire a nuclear arsenal, something the other side has denied for decades, insisting it will not relinquish its right to have a civilian nuclear power program.

The impasse over the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, strategic to global hydrocarbon supplies, pushed black gold prices back up yesterday.

At the close of markets yesterday the barrel of North Sea Brent, the benchmark variety, was up 2.88% at $104.21.Around 04:00 (GMT), the barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the US benchmark variety, for delivery in June, had reached $98.69 (+0.69%).

Danger of “humanitarian crisis”

For the head of Saudi oil giant ARAMCO, the war, which has claimed the lives of thousands of people, the vast majority of them in Iran and Lebanon, has caused the “biggest energy shock” the world has ever known.

“Even if the Strait of Hormuz opened tomorrow, it would take months to rebalance the market,” Amin Nasser said, predicting that markets would not return to normal until 2027.

Besides hydrocarbons, Hormuz is a critical artery for transporting fertilizer – a third of the volumes sold internationally pass through it.

Blocking it risks causing within “a few weeks” a new “major humanitarian crisis,” Jorzi Moreira da Silva, the Portuguese head of a U.N. working group tasked with ensuring the free movement of these critical raw materials, warned Jorzi Moreira da Silva, speaking to Agence France-Presse.

Tehran “gives no indication that it will surrender,” but instead appears to be “counting on rising global oil prices and product shortages to force Trump to end the war without securing the major concessions especially on the (Iranian) nuclear program he is pursuing,” the U.S.-based Soufan Center think tank estimated.