WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump pushed back the deadline for Iran to reach a deal or open the Strait of Hormuz from Monday to Tuesday, the latest of several deadline delays and threatened “hell will befall them” if no deal is reached.
Trump’s previous deadline was March 23, but that deadline changed several times in the following weeks, with Trump oscillating between fierce threats, announcing delays and declaring that negotiations were going well, sometimes in the same statement.
Iran’s state-run Islamic News Agency reported on Monday that Iran had rejected the latest ceasefire offer. Soon after, Trump issued an ominous warning to Iran if it did not surrender, suggesting that Tuesday’s 8pm deadline was the final one.
“They’re not going to have bridges. They’re not going to have power plants. They’re not going to have anything,” he said.
A spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he warned the United States that attacks on civilian infrastructure are prohibited under international law. Speaking to reporters, Trump said he was “not at all” concerned about whether such attacks constituted war crimes.
Here are some of Trump’s deadlines and threats, and what happens next.
Ultimatum on reopening Strait of Hormuz
On March 21, Trump posted on Truth Social that if Iran “fully opens the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours without threat, the United States of America will strike and destroy their various power plants.”
Iran’s deadline is the evening of March 23.
Then 12 hours before the deadline, Trump shared good news on Truth Social: the two countries were engaged in productive dialogue to end the conflict.
“I have directed the War Department to postpone for five days any military strikes on Iran’s power plants and energy infrastructure,” he wrote, adding that this was contingent on the success of the discussions.
That pushed the deadline to that weekend.
Threats to targeted desalination plants
Ahead of the March 26 deadline, Trump doubled down on his threat to The Truth Society: “They better get serious soon before it’s too late, because when that happens, there’s no going back, and it’s not going to be pretty!”
But later that day, he extended the deadline by another 10 days to 8pm on April 6, telling Truth Social that talks were “going well.”
On March 30, Trump issued a mixed statement, celebrating progress in negotiations with Iran while threatening to expand bombing efforts if a deal is not reached “soon,” adding that “most likely there will be.”
“We will end our lovely ‘stay’ in Iran by blowing up and completely destroying all of Iran’s power plants, oil wells, and Khag Island (and probably all of its desalination plants!),” he wrote.
It’s unclear how long “nearly done” meant to Trump, but as the deadline approached, a deal was not reached.
Expletive-filled threats to attack power plants and bridges
“Remember when I gave Iran ten days to make a deal or open the Strait of Hormuz?” Trump said in a Truth Society post on Saturday. “Time is running out – 48 hours before hell is going to befall them.”
As the deadline approached, the threats in his posts doubled down until Sunday, when Trump pushed back the deadline again in an expletive-laden post.
“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day and Bridge Day in Iran. This will be one of a kind!!! Open the straits you crazy bastards or you will live in hell,” Trump said on Truth Social, followed by a post designating an 8 p.m. deadline.
Trump said on Monday that Tuesday’s deadline would be final and said he had given Iran a sufficient extension.
“An entire country can be wiped out overnight, and that night could be tomorrow night,” Trump said. “Because of the strength of our military, we have a plan to destroy every bridge in Iran by 12 o’clock tomorrow night.”
What’s next for diplomacy with Iran?
The head of Iran’s diplomatic mission in Cairo, Mujtaba Firdousi Pour, said Iran no longer trusts the Trump administration after the United States bombed the Islamic Republic twice during previous rounds of talks.
“We will only accept the end of the war if we are guaranteed that we will not be attacked again,” he told The Associated Press.
A district official involved in the negotiations said the effort has not failed. “We are still talking to both sides,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss closed-door diplomacy.
The evening newscast on Israeli television Channel 13 showed a large digital clock counting down to Tuesday’s deadline.
