Alex GriffingMay 18th, 2026, 11:40 am

The U.S. rejected the latest peace proposal from Iran on Monday, with Axios citing a senior official who called the updated offer “insufficient for a deal.”

Axios’s Barak Ravid broke the news amid a flurry of new speculation that President Donald Trump will likely move toward resumed military operations against Iran this week if the Strait of Hormuz, a key global oil transit hub, is not swiftly reopened.

“U.S. officials say President Trump wants a deal to end the war, but is considering resuming it due to Iran’s rejection of many of his demands and refusal to make meaningful concessions on its nuclear program,” Ravid reported, citing U.S. officials.

Trump warned on Sunday that “the clock is ticking” for Iran to make a deal and threatened “there won’t be anything left of them” if they don’t do so “FAST.” Axios also broke the news on Sunday that Trump will meet with his top national security officials in the White House Situation Room to discuss the next steps in possibly resuming the war. Ravid added in his report: “The senior U.S. official said that if Iran doesn’t shift its position, the U.S. will have to continue the negotiations ‘through bombs.'”

The updated Iranian proposal was transmitted to the U.S. via Pakistani intermediaries on Sunday night, and according to Axios’s sources included “only token improvements on the last version.”

“We are really not making a lot of progress. We are at a very serious place today. The pressure is on them to be responsive in the right way,” the senior U.S. official told Ravid of the negotiations.

“It’s time for the Iranians to throw bit of candy out. We need some real, sturdy, and granular conversation [regarding the nuclear program]. If that’s not gonna happen, we will have a conversation through bombs, which will be a shame,” Axios quoted the source as adding.

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