Trump holds fast to Tuesday deadline, threatening Iran’s bridges and power plants

WASHINGTON— President Trump said Monday that the United States and Iran are at a “critical point” in negotiations for a potential ceasefire agreement, but the chances of reaching an agreement by the deadline Trump set Tuesday evening appear uncertain.

At a lengthy press conference held at the White House, the president reiterated these statements: profanity-laden Easter Sunday warning It will hit Iran’s vital infrastructure unless Tehran agrees to open the Strait of Hormuz by 5pm PDT on Tuesday.

“The whole country could be taken out in one night, and that night could be tomorrow night,” Trump told reporters.

Mediators from Egypt, Pakistan and Türkiye sent a draft 45-day ceasefire proposal to the United States and Iran on Friday, the Associated Press reported. Due to the president’s threats and the lukewarm reaction of Iranian leaders, who rejected the president’s diplomatic overtures as “unrealistic” and rejected direct talks with the United States, the country’s future looked dim.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei rejected the latest ceasefire offer on Monday, saying America’s demands were “both extremely excessive, unusual and unreasonable.”

Still, Trump continued to claim that Iran’s leadership was conducting negotiations in good faith. He described the newly appointed leaders as an improvement over their predecessors.

“The people we are negotiating with on Iran’s behalf now are much more reasonable,” he said on Monday.

Trump declined to comment further on the ceasefire proposal at the news conference but told reporters that Iran was negotiating ahead of the Tuesday deadline.

“I can tell you they are negotiating, we think in good faith,” Trump said. “We will find out.”

The president did not say with whom the United States was negotiating, but said the toughest challenge so far was establishing a reliable communication channel with Iranian officials, who he said “have no method of communicating.”

Trump also refused to say whether he was prepared to provide assurances to Iran to end the conflict or whether he would continue his threats to bomb Iran’s critical infrastructure, leaving tensions open to both diplomacy and military action.

“I can’t tell you, it depends on what they do. This is a critical period,” he said.

Central to the negotiations is Iran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz; This strait is a bottleneck that, if it remains blockaded, could continue to push oil prices higher and further destabilize global energy markets.

In characteristically unorthodox style, Trump raised the possibility of the United States taking operational control of the waterway and charging for passage; He presented this offer without giving much detail.

“Why wouldn’t we?” Trump said. “We have a concept where we will charge a toll.”

He has also openly considered seizing Iranian oil, as has floated the idea of ​​using the war to lay claim to Iran’s energy resources in recent social media posts. He admitted that public pressure prevented him from following this path.

“Unfortunately, the American people want us to come home,” he said. “If it were up to me, I would buy the oil, hide the oil, and make a lot of money.”

In addition to reopening the Strait of Hormuz, Washington also demands the permanent decommissioning of Iran’s nuclear facilities and an end to its uranium enrichment programs. The proposal also requires Iran to halt support for regional proxies and accept strict ballistic missile limits.

According to media reports, the United States says it will provide sanctions relief and assistance to civilian energy production in return.

Speaking at the White House Easter Egg Roll earlier Monday, Trump showed no signs of softening his stance on bringing “hell” to Iran if a deal does not happen.

“We’re destroying their country. And I hate to do it, but we’re destroying. And they don’t just want to say uncle… And if they don’t, then they won’t have bridges, they won’t have power plants, they won’t have nothing,” he said, adding ominously: “There are other things worse than those two.”

Iran warned of “more severe and comprehensive” retaliation if Trump carries out his threats.

Also at Monday’s briefing, Trump celebrated the dramatic rescue of an American officer whose warplane was shot down by Iran last week. He told reporters that the operation to extract the injured officer from “one of the most difficult regions in Iran” was made possible by a mixture of “talent” and “luck”.

But the president was outraged when an unnamed news source reported that the weapons systems officer was missing and stranded behind enemy lines. Trump promised to eliminate the source of this information, including threatening to imprison the journalist who published the story.

“We have to find the leaker because he is a sick person,” Trump said. “We will find out that this is national security. If the person who made the news doesn’t tell, he will go to jail.”

Also on Monday, Israel struck Iran’s largest petrochemical facility in Asaluyeh, killing the head of the Revolutionary Guard’s intelligence agency, General Majid Khademi.

The Israeli military also hit three Iranian airports, targeting dozens of helicopters and planes it said belonged to the Iranian Air Force.

Iran responded with missile attacks targeting Haifa, Israel, and energy infrastructure in Kuwait and Bahrain.