Trump gives Iran 48 hours to make deal, as US hunts for missing airman
Iran’s General Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi responded by calling the US president’s threat a ‘helpless, nervous, unbalanced and stupid action’
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Tehran had 48 hours left to cut a deal or face “all Hell”, as US 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 and the Israeli military said it had detected another missile launch from Yemen.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they hit a commercial ship in Bahrain, as they maintained their tight grip on the Strait of Hormuz shipping lane and continued to strike economic targets in their Gulf neighbours they see as linked to the US-Israeli war effort.
The economic strikes are also going the other way. An Israeli or US strike on a petrochemical hub in the southwest of Iran killed five people, according to the deputy governor of Khuzestan province.
The war erupted more than a month ago with US-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, a vital conduit for oil and gas.
WATCH: Donald Trump addresses nation
“Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT,” Trump said on social media, referring to an ultimatum issued on March 26.