US President Donald Trump on April 4 told the Iranian regime that “time is running out” and that it must make a deal or open the crucial Strait of Hormuz to shipping or face “hell,” renewing an earlier threat in which he vowed to send Iran “back to the stone ages.”
“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 on his Truth Social platform.
The remarks came as US forces searched for a missing crew member after an F-15E jet fighter was shot down a day earlier over Iran. One crew member has been rescued, US officials said.
Trump has previously set deadlines for Iran to make a deal or to open the Strait of Hormuz, through which some 20 percent of global oil and natural gas supplies pass. Tehran has effectively blocked the passage, leading to a worldwide energy crisis.
On March 30, Trump said that "if for any reason a deal is not shortly reached" by April 6. US forces will react " by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!)”
Trump on March 21 originally gave Tehran a 48-hour deadline, but then extended it, saying he wanted to give talks a chance to succeed.
Iran has rejected a 15-point US plan presented to it through Pakistani mediators but on April 4 left open the possibility of further negotiations.
In an April 1 televised address, Trump also suggested peace talks -- either directly or indirectly -- were still possible, but he also threatened to bomb Iran "back to the stone ages" and "hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks."
In response, Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf wrote a defiant message on social media: "Iranians don't just talk about defending their country, we bleed for it. We've done it before, and we're ready to do it again.... Bring it on." An Iranian military spokesman warned of "broader and more destructive" attacks to come.
Frantic Search For Crew Member
Meanwhile, US forces frantically searched to rescue a second crew member of an F-15E fighter jet that was shot down on April 3 over Iran. One crew member, who ejected from the crippled aircraft, has been recovered, US officials said.
Iran was also scrambling to capture the US aviator and have offered rewards to anyone who can find and turn the crew member over to the authorities. There has been no word on the potential condition of the second crew member.
A US official said another US Air Force warplane, an A-10 attack aircraft, crashed in the Persian Gulf and that the lone pilot in that incident was safely recovered. Full details were not immediately available.
US officials told reporters that the A-10 was damaged by Iranian fire during the rescue of the F-15E crew member but managed to fly into Kuwaiti air space, where the US aviator safely ejected and the aircraft crashed into Kuwaiti territory.
Bushehr 'Shockwaves'
Meanwhile, nuclear experts expressed concerns when an air strike reportedly hit the grounds of Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant. Neither the US nor Israeli militaries have confirmed any involvement in an attack on the facility.
According to a post on X, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that Iran had informed the body that "one of the site’s physical protection staff members was killed by a projectile fragment and that a building on site was affected by shockwaves and fragments."
Russia on April 4 said it was evacuating an additional 198 members of its staff from the nuclear power plant. The operator of the plant, Rosatom, has been evacuating staff since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran war broke out on February 28.
