President Trump threatened on Monday to “take out” the “entire country” of Iran and said it could happen on Tuesday night, referring to his ultimatum for Tehran to open the Strait of Hormuz.
“The entire country could be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night,” Trump said at a press briefing at the White House.
A day earlier, on Easter Sunday, the president demanded that Iran “open the F*ckin’ Strait” or the country will be “living in hell.” He also pushed back his deadline for US strikes that he has said will destroy all of Iran’s power plants, bridges, and other civilian infrastructure if Iran doesn’t agree to his demands to 8 pm EST on Tuesday night.
The president reaffirmed his deadline at the press briefing on Monday, saying that if a deal wasn’t reached, the US would bomb Iran to the “Stone Age.”
“We’re giving them ’til tomorrow, 8 o’clock Eastern Time. After that, they’re gonna have no bridges, they’re gonna have no power plants. Stone Ages. Yeah, Stone Ages,” he said. The president also claimed that the Iranian people would want him to destroy their infrastructure.
According to the latest reports, Iran has rejected a US proposal for a temporary ceasefire as Iranian officials say they want a deal that involves a permanent truce with guarantees that the US and Israel won’t attack again.
An Iranian official speaking to Drop Site News said that recent US proposals for a temporary pause in exchange for resumption of full access to the Strait of Hormuz were “detached from the realities on the ground.”
