The Iranian Army on Tuesday slammed US President Donald Trump’s “arrogant rhetoric” on threatening to attack Iran’s civilian infrastructure, saying his warnings were not hindering Iran’s soldiers.
“The
rude, arrogant rhetoric and baseless threats of the delusional US president… have no effect on the continuation of the offensive and crushing operations of the warriors of Islam against the American and Zionist enemies,” said a spokesman for the army’s Khatam Al-Anbiya Central Headquarters.
This came after 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.” The US president revealed a plan to destroy all of the country’s bridges and power plants four hours after his deadline of Tuesday 8 pm ET.
“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.
This came after Iran rejected a ceasefire proposal for a 45-day ceasefire and said a permanent end to the war was necessary. It sent a 10-point response, demanding an end to conflicts in the region, a protocol for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, lifting of sanctions and reconstruction.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran’s demands “should not be interpreted as a sign of compromise, but rather as a reflection of its confidence in defending its positions.” He added that earlier US demands, such as a 15-point plan, were rejected as “excessive”.
However, Trump said Iran’s response to the ceasefire proposal was significant but “not good enough”. He vowed to destroy Iranian power plants and bridges, brushing off concerns that such actions would be a war crime or alienate Iran’s 93 million people.
