President Donald Trump issued a blunt public ultimatum to Iran on Sunday, warning the regime it has until Tuesday to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face the destruction of its power plants and bridges. The warning came hours after U.S. special operations forces successfully rescued both crew members of a downed F-15E fighter jet from inside Iranian territory.
“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!!” Trump wrote, in part, on Truth Social.
The ultimatum comes at the end of a self-imposed 10-day deadline Trump set for Iran to open the key waterway, which has been blocked since a joint U.S.-Israeli strike on Tehran on February 28. The Strait of Hormuz carries approximately one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas, and Iran’s blockade has driven a major spike in global fuel prices.
Trump had signaled the deadline Saturday in a separate post. “Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT. Time is running out — 48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them. Glory be to GOD!” he wrote.
The president separately confirmed Sunday that U.S. forces had retrieved the second airman from the downed F-15E, calling it “one of the most daring search and rescue operations in U.S. history.”
“We got him!” Trump wrote, saying the airman, identified as a colonel, had been “behind enemy lines in the treacherous mountains of Iran” and was now “safe and sound” after sustaining injuries.
