Author: Nandita Bose and Steve Holland
WASHINGTON, April 6 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday that Iran could be wiped out overnight, “and that night could be tomorrow night” and warned Tehran must reach a deal by Tuesday night or face a wider bombing campaign.
Trump had earlier vowed to force Iran to agree to a ceasefire by a Tuesday night deadline or face widespread attacks on power plants and other critical infrastructure. Trump demands that Iran give up its nuclear weapons and reopen the Strait of Hormuz oil transit channel.
“An entire country can be wiped out overnight, and that night could be tomorrow night,” Trump said at a White House press conference.
“I wish I didn’t have to do this,” Trump said.
Critics say Trump would be committing war crimes if the United States attacks civilian power plants, but Trump rejected that notion on Monday.
“I’m not worried. You know what a war crime is? Having nuclear weapons,” Trump said earlier Monday during a children’s Easter egg roll on the South Lawn of the White House.
Pentagon chief Pete Hegers said in a briefing that the largest attack since the first day of the operation against Iran would occur on Monday and warned of more attacks on Tuesday.
rescue operation
Trump, flanked by Heggs and other top national security advisers, detailed the weekend’s U.S. effort to rescue a downed American pilot who had evaded capture by Iranian forces while hiding in an Iranian mountainous area.
He said the pilot, known only as “Dude 44 Bravo,” continued to climb to improve his chances of recovery. He said the pilot was seen moving through an unidentified American camera. “It’s like finding a needle in a haystack,” Trump said.
He said hundreds of U.S. troops were involved in the search and rescue mission and to prevent the Iranians from finding him in the first place.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe, who attended the event with Trump, said the agency was conducting a “deception campaign” to make the Iranians believe the pilot was elsewhere.
Ratcliffe said that on Saturday morning, the CIA received confirmation that “one of America’s best and bravest men is alive and hiding in a mountain crevice, still invisible to the enemy but invisible to the CIA.”
The pilot who was shot down on Friday was rescued on Sunday morning.
“The United States military demonstrated amazing skill, precision, lethality and force by descending on the area, literally the area, engaging the enemy, rescuing trapped officers, destroying all threats and evacuating Iranian territory without causing any casualties,” Trump said.
Heggs said the missing pilot used an emergency transponder to show his location and his first message was: “God is good.”
Gen. Dan Kaine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the recovered pilot was in the “backseat” of the downed plane.
“In this case, the sheer commitment of backseaters to survival made much of our efforts possible,” Kane said.
“Willing to suffer”
Trump said without providing evidence that the United States had conducted “numerous interceptions” of Iranian civilians and urged the United States not to relax its efforts to overthrow the Iranian government.
“They are willing to endure this pain in order to be free,” Trump said.
Trump earlier told reporters at a White House Easter event that Iran’s offer was insufficient.
“They put forward a proposal, and it’s an important proposal. It’s an important step. It’s not good enough,” Trump told reporters during a White House Easter event.
Trump said the five-week conflict could end quickly if Iran “does what they have to do.”
“They have to do something. They know that and I think they’ve been negotiating in good faith,” he said.
(Reporting by Nandita Bose and Steve Holland; Editing by David Ljunggren, Michelle Nichols and Deepa Babington)
