New Delhi: US President has warned of a latest threat following the extraction of a US Air Force weapons systems officer whose F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft was captured inside Iran. In his social media post, he threatened to destroy Iran’s critical civilian infrastructure if Tehran fails to meet his Tuesday deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
In his post on Truth Social, he said, “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah. President DONALD J. TRUMP”
He repeated his earlier threat of unleashing “hell” and also told US media there was a good chance of a deal with Tehran to Fox News. Iran later mocked his ultimatum and dismissed his claims as “helpless, nervous and stupid”.
After which he posted again, giving an extension to the original deadline, which was meant to expire on Monday, 6 April. This time he wrote, “Tuesday, 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time!” which means early Wednesday (5:30 AM) morning in India.
Iran blocked the Strait of Hormuz on February 28 after the US-Israel bombing. The water passage serves as a vital route for the world’s oil, and its blockade is causing a gas and fuel crisis for many countries. Oil prices are skyrocketing globally, putting pressure on Trump in a vital mid-term election year in the US.
Series of deadline extension
Trump has postponed deadlines several times since the beginning of the war for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. He first threatened to obliterate Iran’s power plant on 21 March if the waterway didn’t reopen within a 48-hour ultimatum.
Then two days later, he extended the deadline to not launch strikes for another five days, i.e. until 28 March, stating “good” and “productive” talks were going on with Iran. The claims were later denied by Tehran.
As the date approached, he again delayed the deadline until 6 April, and now this has been extended for a new 48-hour ultimatum.
Iran’s parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has said that Iran doesn’t fear any threat and described the US posture as a violation of international law.
Iranian FM Aragchi warning
On Sunday, Iranian strikes were reported against civilian infrastructure in the UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait, as reported by AFP.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi warned that the continued attacks on the Bushehr nuclear plant will lead to radioactive fallout, which would “end life in FCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) capitals and not Tehran.”
Looking ahead…
As the Tuesday deadline looms, the world remains on a knife-edge. For Trump, the crisis is a dual-front battle with a military standoff abroad and an economic emergency at home as skyrocketing oil prices threaten his mid-term prospects.
On the other hand for Tehran, the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz remains their most potent lever of ‘asymmetric’ defiance. Whether the latest extension is a genuine window for backchannel diplomacy or merely the final pause before a significant kinetic escalation remains to be seen.