Trump's 'final' deadline to Iran to reopen Strait of Hormuz, or face destruction
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As most of the world is watching to see what will come of US President Donald Trump’s ultimatum to Iran to blow up its infrastructure, should Iran continue to keep the Strait of Hormuz shut, Trump has doubled down on his threatening rhetoric against the Islamic Republic.
On Monday, Trump, who had given different – and shifting – deadlines for Iran to comply with one or the other requirements to end the war, warned that Iran’s proposal to end the war was not enough to avert his threat to destroy infrastructure.
Trump sounded adamant that nothing short of reopening the Strait would meet the US demand, and warned that in the event of Iran not budging, Iran’s bridges and power plants stood the risk of being destroyed.
More than anything else, what stood out in Trump’s threat is that this time he specifically said his Tuesday deadline is final.
“It’s a significant proposal. It’s a significant step. It’s not good enough, but it’s a very significant step,” Trump told reporters at the White House, adding that intermediaries “are negotiating now”, Al-Jazeera quoted Trump as saying.
Earlier on Sunday, Trump had warned that unless Tehran agreed by Tuesday evening to allow free passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, he would order strikes on Iran’s power plants and bridges.
Strait of Hormuz is the narrow strip of water in the Gulf region through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil supplies pass.
Earlier on Monday, a 45-day ceasefire proposal was put forward by Pakistan after meetings seeking a diplomatic solution to the war, which was started by Israel and the US on February 28. Iran rsponded by firing missiles at targets across the Middle East.
Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency said Tehran had conveyed its response via Islamabad. Iran reportedly rejected the proposed truce, but instead a call for permanent end to the hostilities.
The Iranian proposal consisted of 10 clauses, including an end to conflicts in the region, a protocol for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, the lifting of sanctions and reconstruction, IRNA added.
“We won’t merely accept a ceasefire,” Mojtaba Ferdousi Pour, the head of Iran’s diplomatic mission in Cairo, told The Associated Press news agency. “We only accept an end of the war with guarantees that we won’t be attacked again.”
As for the status of the positions on ending the war, the White House confirmed that the ceasefire proposal was under consideration but Trump had “not signed off” on it and the war was continuing.
“This is one of many ideas, and POTUS [the president of the United States] has not signed off on it. Operation Epic Fury continues,” a White House official told the AFP news agency.
Later, Trump said he was “highly unlikely” to postpone the deadline from 8pm Washington time on Tuesday (05:30 am IST). “They’ve had plenty of time,” he said.
Asked if he was concerned about suggestions that attacks on infrastructure are classified as a war crime, he retorted: “I’m not worried about it.”
Later on Monday, Iran’s military said Trump was “delusional” and called his warnings “rude, arrogant rhetoric and baseless threats”.
Meanwhile, Israel's military issued a warning to Iranians saying "your presence on trains and near railway lines endangers your life."