President Donald Trump said Saturday that Iran has 48 hours to reach a deal or reopen the Strait of Hormuz, warning of severe consequences if it does not comply.
Trump made the statement on his Truth Social platform. He reminded Iran that he had previously given the country 10 days to make a deal or open the strategic waterway.
“Time is running out — 48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them,” Trump wrote, adding “Glory be to GOD!”
The ultimatum comes as the United States and Israel have been engaged in a military conflict with Iran since February 28. The war began with joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran, which killed more than 1,340 people, including then supreme leader Ali Khamenei, according to Bernama news agency.
Iran has since retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel and Gulf countries hosting US military assets, the agency reported.
The Strait of Hormuz is a vital shipping lane for oil and gas. It carries about 20 percent of the world’s oil and gas supply, according to Ahram Online.
Iran has largely closed the strait to ships linked to countries that support the US-Israeli war effort.
Maritime traffic through the strait has fallen sharply. Before the war, about 130 vessels passed through daily. By March, that number had dropped to just six per day, a decline of roughly 95 percent, according to maritime intelligence cited by Anadolu Ajansi.
Iran’s central military command quickly rejected Trump’s ultimatum.
General Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi, speaking for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, called Trump’s threat “a helpless, nervous, unbalanced and stupid action,” according to Al Jazeera.
Echoing Trump’s language, Aliabadi warned that “the gates of hell will open for you,” the WION news network reported.
The general said Iran would target all infrastructure used by the US military in the region, as well as Israel’s infrastructure, if American-Israeli aggression escalates, Ahram Online reported.
The latest threat follows a pattern of ultimatums from the US president.
On March 21, Trump first warned Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours or face strikes on its power plants, according to Ahram Online. He later postponed those strikes, first for five days and then for an additional 10 days, until Monday, April 6.
In a March 26 Truth Social post, Trump said he was extending the pause on strikes targeting Iran’s energy infrastructure at the Iranian government’s request, adding that negotiations were “going very well,” according to the Lokmat Times.
Trump said on Saturday that the extension came partly because Tehran sent 10 Pakistani-flagged oil tankers as a goodwill gesture, Bernama reported.
The region remains on high alert. A strike near Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant on Saturday killed a guard and prompted Russia to evacuate 198 workers, according to the Tribune.
Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, wrote on X that no increase in radiation levels had been reported at the site but expressed “deep concern” about what he said was the fourth such strike in recent weeks.
Iran reported shooting down a US F-15 and an A-10 aircraft. US forces rescued one crew member from the F-15, while a second airman remains missing, the Tribune reported.
Search efforts involving Iranian military and local forces are ongoing.