“Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT. Time is running out - 48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them. Glory be to GOD!” he said on his Truth Social platform.
US President Donald Trump on Saturday said Iran had 48 hours left to make a deal on opening the vital Strait of Hormuz or face “Hell.”
“Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“Time is running out — 48 hours before all Hell will reign (sic) down on them,” the president said Saturday, adding: “Glory be to GOD!“
Trump had initially threatened on March 21 to “obliterate” Iran’s power plants, beginning with the country’s biggest, “if Iran doesn’t FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 HOURS.”
Two days later, however, he said “very good and productive conversations” were being held with Iranian authorities, and that he had postponed any strikes on power plants for five days.
He later again pushed the deadline back, to expire at 8:00 p.m. Monday (0000 GMT Tuesday).
Experts have said that attacks on civilian energy infrastructure could constitute a war crime.
US Senator Lindsey Graham has said that he supports an ultimatum from US President Donald Trump to unleash “all hell” on Iran if they do not reach an agreement within 48 hours.
“A massive military operation awaits Iran if they choose poorly,” Graham has said on X. “This regime has been severely crippled through Operation Epic Fury. Their reign of terror against the region and the world needs to come to an end, hopefully through a peace deal.”
He adds that after having spoken with the president, he is convinced Trump will “use overwhelming military force against the regime if they continue to impede the Strait of Hormuz and refuse a diplomatic solution to achieve our military objectives”.
“If it’s not clear to Iran and others by now that President Trump means what he says, then I don’t know when it will ever be,” Graham adds, urging Tehran to “choose wisely”.