Donald Trump has threatened to send Iran “back to the stone ages” with a barrage of attacks on civilian targets if his final deadline to make a deal on opening the Strait of Hormuz is not met.
Speaking at a press conference at the White House on Monday, the US president reconfirmed his supposed final ultimatum of Tuesday at 2000 Eastern Time [0100 GMT] for Iran to make a deal.
He said the US plans to “decimate” every bridge in Iran by midnight, “where every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding, and never to be used again”.
When questioned over concerns of accusations of war crimes if the US widens its attacks in this way, Mr Trump responded: “No, not at all.” Asked why Iranians would want him to carry out the threat, he said citizens are “willing to suffer… in order to have freedom”. “I hope I don’t have to do it,” he added.
He even appeared to widen his threat from civilian targets to the whole Islamic Republic as his ultimatum ticked closer. “The entire country can be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night,” Mr Trump said.
“Today will be the largest volume of strikes since day one,” US defence secretary Pete Hegseth added. “Tomorrow, even more than today.”
Mr Trump also criticised Nato for not helping the US with its war against Iran, saying he is “very disappointed” in the alliance, as he went on to take another shot at the UK.
Meanwhile, Israel piled on pressure by attacking a major gas field that is Iran’s biggest source of domestic energy.
The warnings come after Iran rejected a 45-day ceasefire proposal and said it wants a permanent end to the war.
Tehran conveyed its 10-point response through Pakistan, a key mediator, including proposals on reconstruction and the lifting of sanctions, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported.
“We only accept an end of the war with guarantees that we won’t be attacked again,” Mojtaba Ferdousi Pour, head of Iran’s diplomatic mission in Cairo, told the Associated Press, adding that Iran no longer trusts the Trump administration after the US bombed the Islamic Republic twice during previous rounds of talks.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei earlier told journalists that messages were being exchanged with mediators but “negotiations are entirely incompatible with ultimatums, crimes and threats of war crimes”.
Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei warned that “assassinations and crimes” will not disrupt Iranian armed forces in a post on Telegram.
Egyptian, Pakistani and Turkish mediators had sent Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff a proposal calling for a 45-day ceasefire and the reopening of the strait, two Middle East officials told the Associated Press.
Iran’s grip on the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s oil is shipped in peacetime, has shaken the world economy, and Tehran has refused to let US and Israeli vessels through after they started the war on 28 February.
Earlier on Monday, Mr Trump addressed an Easter event on the White House lawn and suggested that future attacks could go further.
“If I had my choice, what would I like to do? Take the oil,” he added. He also claimed Iranians “want to hear bombs because they want to be free”.
Israel said it struck a key petrochemical plant in the South Pars natural gas field and killed two paramilitary Revolutionary Guard commanders, including its intelligence chief, on Monday, with the aim of eliminating a major source of revenue for Iran. The field, the world’s largest, is shared with Qatar and is critical to electricity production for Iran’s 93 million population, but the strike appeared to be separate from Mr Trump’s threats.
A previous Israeli attack on the field in March prompted Iran to target energy infrastructure in other Middle Eastern countries, a major escalation.
Meanwhile, explosions boomed in Tehran and low-flying jets could be heard for hours.
Among those killed was the head of intelligence for Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Major General Majid Khademi, according to Iranian state media and Israel’s defence minister.
More than 1,900 people have been killed in Iran since the war began, but the government has not updated the toll for days.
In Israel, Iranian missiles hit the northern city of Haifa, where four people from one family were found dead in the rubble of a residential building.
In Lebanon, where Israel has launched air attacks and a ground invasion that it says targets the Iran-linked Hezbollah militia, an airstrike hit an apartment in Ain Saadeh, a predominantly Christian town east of Beirut. More than 1,400 people have been killed in Lebanon and more than 1 million people have been displaced.
Separately, Kuwait, the UAE and Saudi Arabia activated air defences to intercept Iranian missiles and drones. In G ulf Arab states and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, more than two dozen people have died, while at least 23 have been reported dead in Israel and 13 US service members have been killed.
