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President Donald Trump on Sunday extended his ultimatum to Iran by one day, posting a message on Truth Social simply saying "Tuesday, 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time!," shifting the deadline for Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face military strikes on its civilian infrastructure to 0000 GMT Wednesday.
The move comes as the more-than-five-week-old conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran shows no sign of resolution, with peace talks stalled and both sides hardening their positions.
Trump left no ambiguity about the consequences of non-compliance. In a separate, expletive-laden Truth Social post on Sunday, he warned that the day of the deadline "will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran," vowing that Tehran's energy grid and road network would be struck if the waterway remained closed.
He told the Wall Street Journal that "if they don't do something by Tuesday evening, they won't have any power plants and they won't have any bridges standing." Senior White House advisers and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have reportedly counseled Trump that Iran's power-generating facilities and bridges qualify as legitimate military targets because destroying them could degrade the country's missile and nuclear programs.
The latest extension continues a pattern of rolling ultimatums that have repeatedly been pushed back as backchannel contacts have produced incremental, if unsteady, diplomatic activity. Trump initially gave Tehran a 10-day window beginning March 26 to reopen the strait or accept a deal, pausing what he described as a planned destruction of Iranian energy infrastructure. That deadline was subsequently extended to Monday, April 6, at 8 p.m. Eastern Time, before Sunday's announcement pushed it one additional day to Tuesday evening.
Trump's original 48-hour warning, issued Saturday on Truth Social, declared that "time is running out" for Iran to act, with "all Hell" set to descend on the country. Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, said after speaking with Trump on Saturday that he was "completely convinced" the president would deploy overwhelming military force if Iran continued to block the strait and refuse a diplomatic solution. Iran's joint military command was dismissive, with General Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi calling the ultimatum a "helpless, nervous, unbalanced and stupid action" and warning that "the gates of hell will open for you."
Iran's mission to the United Nations raised the stakes further on Sunday, calling Trump's threats to hit power plants and bridges "direct and public incitement to terrorise civilians and clear evidence of intent to commit war crimes."
The mission said the international community had legal obligations to prevent what it described as atrocities. Attacks on civilian infrastructure, including power grids, are broadly prohibited under international humanitarian law, and legal scholars have long debated the standards under which such targets may be legitimately struck in armed conflict.
Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia and a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, described Trump's rhetoric on NBC's "Meet the Press" as "embarrassing and juvenile," and warned that threatening to give no quarter to combatants on the other side could endanger any future American airmen captured inside Iran.
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