Trump says Iran has 48 hours to make deal or U.S. will unleash ‘hell’
WASHINGTON: U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Tehran had 48 hours left to cut a deal or face “all Hell”, as U.S. and Iranian forces scrambled to find a downed American airman.
Trump’s latest threat came after a strike near an Iranian nuclear power plant prompted evacuations, and as Tehran announced fresh attacks in the region, with the Revolutionary Guards saying they hit a commercial ship in Bahrain allegedly linked to Israel. The war erupted more than a month ago with U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, triggering a retaliation that has spread the conflict throughout the Middle East and convulsed the global economy — particularly due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital conduit for oil and gas.
“Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, referring to an ultimatum issued on March 26.
“Time is running out — 48 hours before all Hell will reign (sic) down on them.”
Tehran said on Friday it had shot down an F-15 warplane and U.S. media reported United States special forces had rescued one of its two crew members, with the other still missing.
Iran’s military also said it downed a U.S. A-10 ground attack aircraft in the Gulf, with U.S. media saying the pilot of that plane was rescued.
The local Mehr news agency on Saturday quoted the deputy governor of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, Fattah Mohammadi, as saying the search for the missing pilot involved “presence of popular forces and tribesmen alongside military forces and is still ongoing”.
He added that “last night, people fired at enemy helicopters with rifles and did not allow them to land”.
Images posted on social media and verified by AFPTV showed Iranian police firing at a U.S. helicopter in southwestern Iran as U.S. forces searched for the airman.
Mohammad Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, mocked the Trump administration, saying the “war they started has now been downgraded from ‘regime change’ to ‘Hey! Can anyone find our pilots?’”
“What incredible progress. Absolute geniuses.”
Retired U.S. brigadier general Houston Cantwell, who has 400 hours of combat flight experience, said a pilot’s training would likely kick in before he or she parachuted to the ground.
“My priority would be, first of all, concealment, because I don’t want to be captured,” he told AFP.
A strike near Iran’s Bushehr nuclear plant on Saturday killed a guard and led Russia, which partly constructed the facility and helps operate it, to announce it was evacuating 198 workers. Monitoring Desk
