US President Donald Trump on Monday warned that Iran could be “taken out” if it did not meet his Tuesday night deadline to reach a deal, marking a dangerous escalation in the ongoing war that has spilt
over the entire Gulf region.
Trump, addressing a press conference in the White House after Tehran rejected a ceasefire proposal, said Iran could be “taken out” in one night”, and that night might be tomorrow night.” He also claimed that Iranian civilians were willing to “suffer” to see the regime fall and dismissed concerns that the attacks could amount to war crimes.
During his 83-minute press conference, Trump said Iran has been an “active and willing partner” in negotiations, but declined to answer if the US operations were winding down. He earlier said a proposal put forth by other countries for a 45-day ceasefire was “not good enough.”
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What Is Trump’s Plan To Attack Iran?
Pressed by reporters on his threats to attack Iran’s civilian sites, Trump says he has a plan to destroy all of the country’s bridges and power plants by 12 pm ET (9:30 Indian time), four hours after his deadline to reach a deal on fully reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
“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, where every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding, and never to be used again. I mean, complete demolition by 12 o’clock, and it’ll happen over a period of four hours if we want it to. We don’t want that to happen,” he said in his press conference.
Trump also said that free oil traffic through the Strait of Hormuz must be part of any deal with Iran. “We have to have a deal that’s acceptable to me, and part of that deal is going to be we want free traffic of oil and everything,” he said.
Meanwhile, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said Monday would bring the largest volume of strikes since the US operation in Iran began, and Tuesday would see even more. “Iran has a choice. Choose wisely because this president does not play around,” he said
The US president said 10,000 combat flights have been conducted over Iran since the start of the war, and 13,000 targets have been attacked.
