WASHINGTON DC: US President Donald Trump has issued a strongly worded and expletive-filled warning on social media, threatening to target Iran’s power infrastructure and bridges if it does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz to global shipping by his Tuesday deadline.
While reiterating his earlier warning of unleashing “hell,” Trump also told US media there remains a “good chance” of reaching an agreement with Tehran.
Iranian officials, however, dismissed the ultimatum, calling it “helpless, nervous, and foolish,” according to BBC
The latest warning came after Trump confirmed that a second crew member from a US fighter jet shot down over Iran had been successfully rescued during a high-risk operation deep inside hostile territory.
Both US and Iranian forces had been searching for the missing serviceman in the mountainous southwest region of Iran. The jet’s pilot had already been rescued shortly after the aircraft was downed on Friday.
The developments come amid more than a month of escalating conflict, with Iran continuing retaliatory strikes against Gulf countries aligned with the US and Israel.
Tehran has also disrupted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz—a critical global shipping route responsible for roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas supply—triggering a surge in global oil prices and raising concerns about inflation.
The ongoing disruption prompted Trump in March to set multiple deadlines for Iran to reopen the waterway, a demand he reiterated again on his Truth Social platform on Sunday.
(Inputs from BBC)
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