US President Donald Trump has again set a deadline to open the Strait of Hormuz. In a post on Truth Social, he warned that he would destroy power plants and bridges in Iran if the strait is not reopened by Tuesday, 8 pm ET (Wednesday, 5:30am IST). In the profanity-laced post, Trump wrote: “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. Open the ****** strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in hell — just watch.”
Iran’s Response to the Threats
Iran on Monday morning rejected the warning and declared that the waterway would “never return to its former state”, especially for the US and Israel. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, said Iran would react ‘in kind’ if civilian infrastructure is repeatedly targeted by the US, adding that similar infrastructure owned by or related to the US would also be targeted. He added that attacks targeting the whole population are nothing less than a war crime.
This is not the first time the US president has issued a deadline for the opening of this critical chokepoint. Initially, he gave Iran 48 hours to reopen the strait on March 21. On March 26, he set another 10-day deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, a draft proposal by Egyptian, Pakistani, and Turkish mediators, calling for a 45-day ceasefire and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, has been sent to both countries as an attempt to ease tensions.
