Iran’s top officials pushed back Monday against President Trump’s deadline to open the Strait of Hormuz, striking a defiant tone as the warring sides traded missile attacks. The U.S. and Israel targeted oil facilities inside Iran, while Iran hit several towns in Israel and oil refineries across the Gulf countries.
In a media post on Sunday, Trump gave Iran an ultimatum to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a deadline, which he said, is set to expire on Tuesday at 8 pm ET.
A few hours earlier, Trump had issued a profane social media post: “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran,” and adding, “Open the F***in’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH!”
Attacking civilian infrastructure that doesn’t contribute to military action is considered a war crime under the Geneva Convention.
Iranian officials reacted to Trump’s threats.
A spokesman for Iran’s president, Seyyed Mehdi Tabatabai, called Trump’s statement a reaction of “sheer desperation and anger.”
“The Strait of Hormuz will open when all the damages caused by the imposed war are compensated through a new legal regime, using a portion of the revenue from transit fees,” Tabatabai said in a post on social media on Sunday.
Iran’s ministry of foreign affairs echoed the statement: “We are determined to defend our national security and sovereignty with all might,” Esmail Baghaei told Iran’s Wana news agency.
Iran’s Mission to the U.N. said on Sunday “Trump seeks to drag the region into an endless war.”
“This is direct and public incitement to terrorize civilians and clear evidence of intent to commit war crimes,” it said on a post on X. “The international community and all States have legal obligations to prevent such atrocious acts of war crimes.”
