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President Donald Trump on Sunday made new, expletive-laden threats to escalate strikes on Iran and its infrastructure if it doesn’t open the Strait of Hormuz by his deadline, after American forces rescued an aviator whose Iran-downed plane fell behind enemy lines.
A defiant Iran showed no sign of backing down, striking infrastructure targets in neighboring Gulf Arab countries and challenging the U.S. account of the rescue.
In a social media post, Trump promised strikes on Iran’s power plants and bridges and said the country would be “living in Hell” if the strait, a crucial waterway for global trade, isn’t opened to marine traffic by Tuesday. He ended with “Praise be to Allah.”
Trump has issued such deadlines before but extended them when mediators have claimed progress toward ending the war, which has killed thousands, shaken global markets, cut off key shipping routes and spiked fuel prices in just over five weeks.
Both sides have threatened and hit civilian targets like oil fields and desalination plants critical for drinking water, bringing warnings of possible war crimes.
“Iranian civilians will be the first to suffer from the destruction of power plants and bridges,” Amnesty International head Agnes Callamard said on social media, calling Trump’s threat “revolting.”
