Explained: 'Final' Tuesday deadline for Hormuz deal; what Trump and Iran said last night
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Iran said on Monday it wanted a lasting end to the war with the US and Israel and pushed back against pressure to reopen the Strait of Hormuz while US President Donald Trump warned the country could be "taken out" if it did not meet his Tuesday night deadline to reach a deal.
Responding to a US proposal through mediator Pakistan, Tehran rejected a ceasefire and said a permanent end to the war was necessary, the official IRNA news agency reported.
The Iranian response consisted of 10 clauses, including an end to conflicts in the region, a protocol for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, lifting of sanctions and reconstruction, the agency added.
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What Trump said
Trump has threatened to rain "hell" on Tehran if it did not make a deal by 8pm EDT Tuesday (4am UAE time) to open the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for global energy supplies.
He rejected the Iranian response and said his deadline was final.
"They made a proposal, and it's a significant proposal. It's a significant step. It's not good enough," Trump told reporters at an annual White House Easter event, referring to Iran.
At a news conference, Trump said Iran could be "taken out" in one night, "and that night might be tomorrow night", referring to Tuesday. He vowed to destroy Iranian power plants and bridges, brushing off concerns that such actions would be a war crime or alienate Iran's 93 million people.
Without an agreement with Tehran, Trump said, "Every bridge in Iran will be decimated" by midnight EDT (0400 GMT) on Wednesday, and "every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding, and never to be used again."
Brushing aside accusations that such a move would be a war crime, he added, "I mean complete demolition by 12 o'clock, and it'll happen over a period of four hours — if we wanted to."
What Iran said
"Iran has conveyed to Pakistan its response to the American proposal to end the war," the news agency IRNA said Monday, without revealing its source or what the US offer contained.
"In this response, set out in ten points, Iran... has rejected a ceasefire and insists on the need for a definitive end to the conflict," the Iranian state news agency added.
IRNA also said Tehran's demands included "an end to conflicts in the region, a protocol for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, reconstruction, and the lifting of sanctions".
Responding to fresh threats issued by Trump last night, Tehran's army said the US President's "arrogant rhetoric" on the war on the Middle East is not hindering Iran's soldiers.
"The rude, arrogant rhetoric and baseless threats of the delusional US president... have no effect on the continuation of the offensive and crushing operations of the warriors of Islam against the American and Zionist enemies," said a spokesman for the army's Khatam Al-Anbiya central command cited by the national broadcaster.
Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Monday that US President Donald Trump's threats to strike power plants and bridges in Iran could amount to war crimes.
"The American president, as the highest official of his country, has publicly threatened to commit war crimes," Gharibabadi said in a post on X, citing provisions of international law that could be breached.
Mahdi Mohammadi, a top adviser to the Iranian Parliament speaker, also said it is Trump who has "about 20 hours to either surrender to Iran or his allies will return to the Stone Age. We will not back down."
