Iran live updates: Trump says Iran will make a deal or be 'decimated'
Iran live updates: Trump says Iran will make a deal or be 'decimated'
DAVID BRENNAN and NADINE EL-BAWABWed, May 13, 2026 at 9:12 AM UTC
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President Donald Trump announced "major combat operations" against Iran on Feb. 28, with massive joint U.S.-Israeli strikes targeting military, government and infrastructure sites.
Following the announcement of a two-week ceasefire, initial U.S.-Iran talks in Pakistan in April failed to reach a peace deal.
Trump later announced the open-ended extension of the ceasefire and the continuation of a U.S. blockade until negotiations are concluded "one way or the other."
The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement on Wednesday that it struck at least 40 alleged Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon across the previous 24 hours, as fighting there continues despite a ceasefire agreed between Israeli and Lebanese leaders last month.IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee issued new evacuation orders for six villages in southern Lebanon on Wednesday morning, warning of imminent Israeli strikes there.Hezbollah continued to target Israeli forces operating in southern Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to statements it released on Telegram detailing its latest attacks.
The IDF said Hezbollah launched "several rockets" toward Israeli positions in southern Lebanon on Wednesday morning.
Kawnat Haju/AFP via Getty Images - PHOTO: An explosion erupts in the area of al-Housh following Israeli bombardment as seen from Tyre in southern Lebanon on May 12, 2026.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi claimed on Tuesday that "America's lack of goodwill and dishonesty" is to blame for the failure of peace talks to date, as quoted in a readout by the semi-official ISNA agency on Tuesday.During a meeting with the Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Andreas Kravik in Tehran, Araghchi said the U.S. negotiating team had demonstrated an "overbearing approach, threatening and provocative rhetoric" in peace talks.Araghchi also accused the U.S. of "repeated violations of the ceasefire with the continued blockade of Iranian seaports."Iran, he said, is consulting on new regulations "related to the Strait of Hormuz in accordance with international law."
ABC News - PHOTO: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi appears on ABC News' "This Week" on March 1, 2026
-ABC News' Will Gretsky
Ahead of his trip to China, President Donald Trump gave conflicting answers when asked on Tuesday if Beijing should intervene to help end the war with Iran."I don't think we need any help with Iran," he said at first. Minutes later, when Trump was asked if Chinese President Xi Jinping was the person who could revive the ceasefire, the president said he would like whatever help Xi can offer.But, when pressed on Xi's possible help, Trump again said the U.S. did not need assistance. "They're defeated militarily, and they'll either do the right thing or we'll finish the job," Trump said.
Alex Wong/Getty Images - PHOTO: President Donald Trump waves as he boards Air Force One, May 12, 2026 at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland.
Moments later, Trump added that he "wouldn't say Iran" is one of the topics he plans to discuss with Xi because the U.S. has it "under control.""We're either going to make a deal or they're going to be decimated, one way or the other," Trump said.Trump again dismissed economic concerns related to the ongoing war, suggesting inflation would fall 1.5% after the war ends amid what he predicted would be a "gusher of oil.""And one way the other, it's going to work out very well. Going to work out very well. I think you have so much oil, you're going to have a gusher of oil like you've never had before," Trump said, once again stressing that he thought oil prices would have risen higher."And as soon as this war is over, which will not be long, you're going to see oil prices drop, and you're going to see a stock market, which is already at the highest point in history, go through the roof. You're going to see the golden age of America, frankly, and you're seeing it now," Trump said.
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Asked about the progress of negotiations with Tehran, Trump said, "Well, we're going to see what happens. We're only making a good deal."
"But I believe that one way or the other, it's going to be very good for the American people, and I think actually very good for the Iranian people," Trump said.-ABC News' Emily T. Chang and Fritz Farrow
The Iran war is estimated to have cost $29 billion, acting Pentagon comptroller Jules W. Hurst III told lawmakers Tuesday morning during a House Appropriations hearing.Two weeks ago, Hurst testified it was $25 billion, much of which was attributed to munitions costs.Hurst said the number comes after accounting for, "replacement of equipment costs and also just general operational costs keep people in theater."Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., asked Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth when Congress would get a more detailed accounting for war costs.“When it's relevant and required, we will share it,” Hegseth responded. -ABC News' Steven Beynon
The Israel Defense Forces said in a post to X on Tuesday that it hit 45 alleged Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon over the past day.The IDF claimed that its targets included command posts, observation posts, assembly points, warehouses and other buildings it alleged were being used by Hezbollah forces in the area.Hezbollah on Tuesday claimed a rocket attack on Israeli forces deployed in southern Lebanon.Lebanon's Ministry of Public Health said on Monday that at least 2,869 people have been killed and 8,730 people wounded in Lebanon since cross-border fighting resumed on March 2.
Kawnat Haju/AFP via Getty Images - PHOTO: A photograph taken from the southern Lebanese area of Tyre shows smoke rising from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the area of Ras Al-Ain on May 12, 2026.
Ebrahim Rezaei, a member of the Iranian parliament and the spokesperson for the body's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, suggested in a post to X on Tuesday that renewed attacks on the country may prompt lawmakers to consider a higher level of uranium enrichment."One of Iran's options in the event of another attack could be 90% enrichment," Rezaei wrote in a post to X. "We will review it in the parliament."Weapons-grade uranium -- enriched to a high enough level to use as fuel in a nuclear weapon -- is generally considered to require enrichment of 90% and above. Iran has amassed a stockpile of uranium enriched to 60%, the fate of which is a key issue in ongoing peace talks.The U.S. has estimated that Iran amassed around 1,000 pounds of 60% enriched uranium. President Donald Trump has said that the stockpile was buried underground during the U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities last year, saying this weekend that the site is "very well surveilled."
The speaker of the Iranian parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, wrote in a post to X on Monday that Tehran's 14-point peace plan is the only option for ending the war with the U.S. and Israel."There is no alternative but to accept the rights of the Iranian people as laid out in the 14-point proposal," Ghalibaf -- who led the Iranian negotiating team at April negotiations in Islamabad, Pakistan -- wrote on Monday."Any other approach will be completely inconclusive; nothing but one failure after another," he added. "The longer they drag their feet, the more American taxpayers will pay for it."-ABC News' Desiree Adib
During an Oval Office event about maternal health on Monday, President Donald Trump continued to rail against the Iranian proposal response that he received Sunday, calling it “unacceptable” and “a piece of garbage” that he didn’t even finish reading, adding that the current ceasefire with Iran is “unbelievably weak.”Trump said he has the “best plan ever” which requires that Iran does not develop a nuclear weapon-- something he said Iran’s latest proposal did not explicitly agree to.“It was just unacceptable. You know, a lot of people said, ‘Well, does he have a plan?’ Yeah, of course I do have a plan. I have the best plan ever,” Trump said.He later added, “But the plan is, they cannot have a nuclear weapon, and they didn't say that in their letter.”The president also declared the ceasefire is now at its “weakest” point because of the unsatisfactory response.“It's unbelievably weak, I would say. I would call it the weakest right now. After reading that piece of garbage they sent us. I didn't even finish reading it," he said.But Trump continued to insist that he is facing “no pressure” to secure a deal or end the war, pushing back on claims that he would “get tired” of the operation.“Are they stupid people? They didn't want to believe it. They think that, well, I'll get tired of this, or I'll get bored or I'll have some pressure, but there's no pressure. There's no pressure at all. We're going to have a complete victory,” Trump said.Trump pointed to disagreement over the removal of enriched uranium from Iran as one of the biggest issues with Iran’s latest response.“They changed their mind, because they didn’t put it in the paper,” Trump said of removing the uranium.-ABC News’ Emily Chang
President Donald Trump told Fox News journalist John Roberts he is considering restarting Project Freedom, but noted that the U.S. Navy’s role in allegedly “guiding” ships through the Strait of Hormuz would “only be a piece of it."Further details of the president's plans with the operation were not immediately available.Project Freedom went into effect exactly one week ago before Trump abruptly paused it Tuesday evening.According to Fox News, Trump expressed confidence in Iran complying with his demands, saying “they’re going to fold.” On Sunday, Trump blasted Iran's response to the U.S. proposal, calling it "totally unacceptable."Asked whether he wishes to negotiate with a new round of leaders in Iran, Trump told Fox News, "I will deal with them until they make a deal.”Trump has repeatedly criticized Iran’s leadership, saying they’re disjointed and not able to communicate with each other. In recent weeks, the president has also suggested that he doesn’t need to make a deal with Iran at all.Trump also reportedly told Fox News that Iranian negotiators said Iran does not have the technology to retrieve their nuclear dust and that the U.S. must go into Iran to obtain it.-ABC News’ Emily Chang
The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported on Monday that a student accused by the Iranian government of "intelligence cooperation with Mossad and the CIA" was executed.Erfan Shakourzadeh, 29, was an aerospace engineering student at the Iran University of Science and Technology in Tehran, HRANA said.The Iranian judiciary alleged that Shakourzadeh "received payments in cryptocurrency" for providing "information regarding the location of his workplace, ongoing projects and certain details related to the organization where he worked," HRANA added.-ABC News' Zoe Magee
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Source: “AOL Breaking”
