Who Gets to Call the Shots
Iran said its response to a U.S. peace proposal was "generous and responsible" and demanded an end to the U.S. blockade and sanctions, while President Donald Trump called the response "totally unacceptable" and said the cease-fire was "on life support." Haaretz reported that Trump's swift rejection sent oil prices higher on Monday amid concerns the ten-week-old conflict would drag on and keep shipping through the Strait of Hormuz paralysed. The people living under the conflict do not get to set the terms; the states and their bosses do, while markets twitch and shipping lanes choke.
Trump said Iran's response to the U.S. cease-fire offer was "just unacceptable," calling Tehran's offer a "stupid proposal." He said, "The cease-fire is unbelievably weak. After reading that piece of garbage, it's on life support," and added, "Nobody would've taken it. Obama and Biden would've taken it – what they took was far worse." Trump said Iran had been "totally defeated" and added that he has "the best plan ever."
What the Powerful Say About the Rest of Us
Referring to talks over Iran's nuclear program, Trump said Iran had told him it intended to hand over "the nuclear dust," but that the United States would have to remove it because the site was "so obliterated that only one or two countries in the world could get it – us and China." Trump said Iran had agreed to remove the nuclear material "two days ago" but later "changed their mind." He said, "They didn't put it in the paper. We waited four days and it should've taken 10 minutes. They just can't get there. They agree with us, then they take it back." Trump also described Iran's leadership as consisting of "moderates and the lunatics" and said the Iranian people "want to go out in the streets, but they have no weapons." He also criticized the Iraqi Kurds, saying, "We thought the Kurds were going to give us weapons, but they disappointed us. They take, take, take."
Those lines are the language of command, not peace: demands, refusals, deadlines, and contempt for anyone outside the imperial script. The apparatus speaks in ultimatums while ordinary people are reduced to a backdrop for negotiations over sanctions, blockade, and military access.
Shipping Lanes, Bases, and the Machinery of Control
Haaretz said Trump was considering renewing and expanding "Project Freedom" beyond the escort of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, and that he had not made a final decision. In a post on X, Oman's Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi said there was an "urgent need to advance a humanitarian initiative to free ships in the Gulf" after meeting with Arsenio Dominguez, head of the International Maritime Organization. Haaretz also reported that on May 5 Trump reversed his plan to help ships pass through the Strait of Hormuz after Saudi Arabia suspended U.S. military access to key bases and airspace needed for the operation, citing NBC News and American officials.
The whole setup runs through military access, airspace, escorts, and the power to decide who moves and who does not. Even the so-called humanitarian initiative is framed around freeing ships in the Gulf, not the people trapped by sanctions, blockade, and a conflict that keeps grinding on.
The Jerusalem Post said Trump was debating restarting Project Freedom after Iran's "unacceptable" response to the U.S. peace proposal and noted that he had not made a final decision. It also said the U.S. president was considering the matter after speaking by phone with Fox News' John Roberts. The decision-making stays locked inside the same narrow circle: presidents, foreign ministers, maritime officials, and media intermediaries, while the consequences spill outward.
The conflict is described as ten weeks old, and the cease-fire remains "on life support" in Trump's words. Iran demanded an end to the U.S. blockade and sanctions. Trump answered with rejection, threats, and the promise of "the best plan ever." The machinery of state power keeps talking over everyone else.