President Donald Trump appears to have set a new deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, writing on social media: “Tuesday, 8pm.”
a few hours after another, in which he wrote: “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day and Bridge Day, all together, in Iran. There will be nothing like it! Open the Strait, you crazy people, or you will live in hell – JUST LOOK! Praise be to Allah.”
CNN has reached out to the White House for more details on the president’s post.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to attack Iranian energy facilities if Tehran does not fully reopen within the stipulated deadline, recently stating that “time is running out.”
When he made his first threat at the end of last month, he gave just 48 hours for the country to release the strategic passage. The deadline was postponed a few times, first for a few days and then at 8pm.
In telephone interviews this Monday (5), the president reiterated that he plans to act on Tuesday if an agreement is not reached.
“If they don’t make a deal,” Trump said in an interview with Axios, “I’m going to destroy everything there.”
“If they don’t collaborate, if they want to keep it closed, they will lose all the plants and all other facilities across the country,” he added in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.
“And if they don’t do anything by Tuesday night, there will be no plants or bridges standing,” he added.
Context: Attacking critical civilian infrastructure, such as power plants, can be considered a war crime.
Trump also threatened to target water treatment plants. The Geneva Conventions and their protocols define attacks on objects essential to the survival of the civilian population as illegal, including “installations and reserves of drinking water and irrigation works”.
