WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has extended his ultimatum for Iran to negotiate a deal or reopen the Strait of Hormuz until Tuesday evening, marking another postponement in a pattern of shifting deadlines that began in March, while warning that without compliance “Hell will reign down on them.”
Trump’s original March 23rd deadline has been moved multiple times over recent weeks as the president has alternated between aggressive warnings, announced postponements, and declarations of diplomatic progress, sometimes within the same public statement.
Iranian officials turned down the most recent ceasefire offer, according to the nation’s state-controlled IRNA news agency on Monday. Following this rejection, Trump issued a stark warning about Iran’s fate if it fails to comply, indicating Tuesday’s 8 p.m. deadline would be his final extension.
“They’ll have no bridges. They’ll have no power plants. They’ll have no anything,” he stated.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres cautioned the United States through his spokesperson that targeting civilian infrastructure violates international law. When questioned by reporters, Trump said he’s “not at all” worried about potential war crimes charges related to such strikes.
The timeline of Trump’s ultimatums began March 21, when he posted on Truth Social demanding Iran “FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 HOURS from this exact point in time,” or face attacks on their power facilities.
This initial ultimatum set a March 23 evening deadline.
However, twelve hours before that deadline expired, Trump announced on Truth Social that productive talks were underway between both nations.
“I HAVE INSTRUCTED THE DEPARTMENT OF WAR TO POSTPONE ANY AND ALL MILITARY STRIKES AGAINST IRANIAN POWER PLANTS AND ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE FOR A FIVE DAY PERIOD,” he posted, noting this depended on successful negotiations.
This delay moved the deadline to the end of that week.
On March 26, before the new deadline arrived, Trump intensified his warnings on Truth Social: “They better get serious soon, before it is too late, because once that happens, there is NO TURNING BACK, and it won’t be pretty!”
Yet that same day, he granted another 10-day extension until April 6 at 8 p.m., posting on Truth Social that talks were “going very well.”
Trump issued conflicting messages on March 30, praising negotiation progress while simultaneously broadening his bombing threats if an agreement wasn’t “shortly reached,” adding that “it probably will be.”
“We will conclude our lovely ‘stay’ in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!),” he posted.
The meaning of Trump’s “shortly reached” timeline remained unclear, but no agreement materialized as the deadline approached.
“Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Saturday, “Time is running out – 48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them.”
As the deadline neared, his social media posts escalated the threats until Sunday, when Trump again postponed the deadline in a profanity-laden message.
“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the F——-in’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, followed by a separate post establishing the 8 p.m. Tuesday deadline.
On Monday, Trump indicated Tuesday’s deadline would be his last, claiming he had already provided Iran with sufficient extensions.
“The entire country can be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night,” Trump declared. “We have a plan, because of the power of our military, where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o’clock tomorrow night.”
Mojtaba Ferdousi Pour, Iran’s diplomatic mission chief in Cairo, stated that Iran has lost confidence in the Trump administration following two previous U.S. bombing campaigns during earlier negotiation attempts.
“We only accept an end of the war with guarantees that we won’t be attacked again,” he informed The Associated Press.
A regional official participating in the diplomatic efforts indicated that negotiations haven’t completely broken down. “We are still talking to both sides,” the official said, requesting anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the closed-door discussions.
Israeli television station Channel 13’s evening broadcast featured a prominent digital countdown timer marking the hours and minutes remaining until Tuesday’s deadline.
