US President Donald Trump on Sunday appeared to extend his self-imposed deadline for Iran by 24 hours to make a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face devastating infrastructure attacks.
In a cryptic post on Truth Social, Trump gave the new deadline, Tuesday, 8 PM ET.
“Tuesday, 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time!” he said in the post.
The new deadline, 0000 GMT or 5:30 AM (IST) Wednesday, would mean another day for Tehran to attempt to placate the mercurial US leader or risk him following through on a threat to destroy the country’s power plants and bridges, the threat of which the Islamic Republic has called a “war crime”.
Iran has effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz shipping lane, a vital route for the world’s oil and gas, since the start of the US-Israeli bombing campaign on February 28.
Due to the blockade, many countries are facing a fuel and gas crisis, which is driving up oil prices worldwide and, in turn, putting pressure on Trump in a vital mid-term election year in the US.
Earlier, the US President threatened to attack Iran’s power plants and bridges in an expletive-laden social media post.
“Open the f**king strait, you crazy ba**ards,” he said along with the threat.
Donald Trump’s string of interviews
Donald Trump, who has held no public events since an address to the nation on Wednesday, did a string of short interviews with media outlets after he announced the dramatic rescue of a US airman — and issued the expletive-laden ultimatum to the Islamic Republic.
He seemed to confirm the new timing in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.
“We are in a position that’s very strong, and that country will take 20 years to rebuild, if they’re lucky, if they have a country. And if they don’t do something by Tuesday evening, they won’t have any power plants, and they won’t have any bridges standing,” he told the Journal Sunday.
He told Fox News he believes there is a “good chance” of making a deal with Iran on Monday.
“I think there is a good chance tomorrow, they are negotiating now,” Trump said.
“If they don’t make a deal and fast, I’m considering blowing everything up and taking over the oil,” he added.
In the same interview, Trump said he had given Iranian negotiators “immunity from death” — and said they had conceded that Tehran would not move ahead with the development of nuclear weapons.
“The big thing is they’re not going to have a nuclear weapon. They’re not even negotiating that point; it’s so easy,” he said.
“That’s already been conceded. Most of the points are conceded.”
In an interview with ABC News, Trump said the conflict should end in “days, not weeks,” but warned that without some kind of agreement with Tehran, there was “very little” that would be off-limits to US action.
