U.S. President Donald Trump warned Iran on Tuesday that if it does not meet his 8 p.m. EST deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.”
“I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” the U.S. president wrote on Truth Social.
“However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS?” he continued.
“We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World. 47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!” Trump added.
Hopes are fading that a deal will be reached between Washington and Tehran in time to meet Trump’s deadline.
Trump has repeatedly warned the Islamic Republic that it must open the Strait of Hormuz. On March 26, he issued a 10-day ultimatum, warning that noncompliance would lead to the destruction of all of Iran’s bridges and power plants, an operation he said on Monday could be accomplished in roughly four hours.
With the 10 days set to expire on Monday, Trump extended the deadline by one day, posting to Truth Social on April 5, “Tuesday, 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time!”
In an earlier post, he threatened: “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.”
Although Trump said on Monday at a news conference that Iran is “negotiating, we think, in good faith,” privately, he is less hopeful, according to some U.S. officials, reported The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday. He is expected to issue final orders for strikes on Tuesday evening, the paper said.
Israel and the United States have already shifted to targets intended to damage Iran’s economy. In separate attacks, the Israel Defense Forces destroyed two major petrochemical facilities, knocking out 85% of the country’s total petrochemical exports. The attacks constitute “a severe economic blow to the Iranian regime, amounting to tens of billions of dollars,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said.
Israel also struck a major pharmaceutical facility in Tehran last week. On April 2, U.S. forces blew a gap into the B1 Bridge linking Tehran and Karaj. American and Israeli strikes have also shut down Iran’s two largest steel plants.
“The biggest bridge in Iran comes tumbling down, never to be used again—much more to follow,” Trump posted to Truth Social in a clear foreshadowing of what is to come if Iran doesn’t agree to America’s terms.
The United States and Israel, in a joint attack, reportedly hit another bridge near the Iranian city of Qom on Tuesday, the AFP said.
“A few minutes ago, one of the bridges on Qom’s communication lines, outside the city of Qom and in the west of the province, was attacked by American and Zionist enemy projectiles,” Deputy Governor of Qom Province Morteza Heydari told state TV.
So far, it appears that the joint military efforts against Iran have not brought its leaders to their knees.
On Monday, Trump said: “They don’t want to cry, as the expression goes, uncle. But they will. And if they don’t, they’ll have no bridges. They’ll have no power plants. They’ll have no anything. I won’t go further because there are other things that are worse than those two.”
