The deadline set by Donald Trump for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz and reach a deal with the U.S. expires on Wednesday night.
On Monday, Tehran rejected a ceasefire proposal, stating that it seeks a long-term resolution to the war with the U.S. and Israel. In response, Trump first said that Iran could be "finished" in one night — and that "tonight could be that night," and then posted about the potential demise of "an entire civilization."
"An entire civilization will perish tonight, and it will never be revived. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will. However, now that we have had a complete and total regime change, with other, smarter, and less radical minds prevailing, something revolutionary and beautiful may happen, who knows? We will find out tonight," Trump wrote on the social network Truth Social.
Iran's leadership did not hold back and "fired" back with a tweet: Iran threatened the complete destruction of the oil, gas, and energy infrastructure of the Middle East, the closure of the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, and the country's president stated that 14 million Iranians have already expressed their readiness to join the army.
"From this moment on, certain considerations regarding good neighborliness and restraint are over. We will act against the infrastructure of the United States and their partners in the Persian Gulf in such a way that they will be deprived of the region's oil and gas for years," stated the IRGC.
A senior Iranian official told the press that if the U.S. attacks Iran's power plants, "the entire region and Saudi Arabia will plunge into complete darkness," possibly also leading to the closure of the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait - one of the most important strategic chokepoints in global maritime trade.
"More than 14 million brave Iranians have currently expressed their readiness to sacrifice their lives for the defense of Iran. I have also been, am, and will be ready to give my life for Iran," wrote President Pezeshkian.
Trump had previously threatened to unleash "hell" on Tehran if a deal to open the Strait of Hormuz was not reached by 8:00 PM Eastern Time on Tuesday (03:00 Wednesday in Latvia).
If the deadline is missed, the U.S. president promised to attack Iranian power plants and bridges, dismissing remarks that such actions could be considered a war crime.
Meanwhile, Iranians formed human chains around the energy facilities that Trump promised to destroy, reports the Tasnim agency.
