Trump 'not at all' worried about committing war crimes in Iran

President Donald Trump has once again extended a deadline for Iran to either agree to a deal or ensure the free passage through the Strait of Hormuz, pushing it from Monday to Tuesday. This marks the latest in a series of postponements, accompanied by a stark warning that without an agreement, "Hell will reign down on them."

The President's previous deadline was set for 23 March, but this date has shifted repeatedly over recent weeks. Mr Trump has consistently oscillated between issuing aggressive threats, announcing delays, and proclaiming that negotiations were progressing well, sometimes within the same statement.

Iran, for its part, rejected the latest ceasefire proposal, as reported by the country's state-run IRNA news agency on Monday. Shortly after this rejection, Mr Trump issued an ominous warning to Iran should it fail to comply, suggesting that Tuesday’s 8 p.m. EDT deadline would be final. "They’ll have no bridges. They’ll have no power plants. They’ll have no anything," he declared.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres cautioned the US that targeting civilian infrastructure is prohibited under international law, according to his spokesperson. Speaking to reporters, Mr Trump dismissed these concerns, stating he was "not at all" worried about committing war crimes with such attacks.

AP Photo/Alex Brandon

This pattern of ultimatums and reprieves began on 21 March, when Mr Trump posted on Truth Social that if Iran did not "FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 HOURS from this exact point in time, the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS." Iran was given until the evening of 23 March.

However, just 12 hours before that deadline, Mr Trump again took to Truth Social to announce "productive conversations" towards resolving the conflict. "I HAVE INSTRUCTED THE DEPARTMENT OF WAR TO POSTPONE ANY AND ALL MILITARY STRIKES AGAINST IRANIAN POWER PLANTS AND ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE FOR A FIVE DAY PERIOD," he wrote, conditional on the success of these discussions, pushing the deadline to the end of that week.

Before this extended deadline, on 26 March, Mr Trump intensified his threats on Truth Social: "They better get serious soon, before it is too late, because once that happens, there is NO TURNING BACK, and it won’t be pretty!" Yet, later that same day, he extended the deadline by another 10 days, to 6 April at 8 p.m., again claiming on Truth Social that negotiations were "going very well."

On 30 March, Mr Trump issued a mixed statement, celebrating progress in talks while simultaneously expanding his threatened bombing targets if a deal wasn't "shortly reached," adding that "it probably will be." He wrote: "We will conclude our lovely ‘stay’ in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalination plants!)." It remained unclear what "shortly reached" meant, but no deal materialised as the deadline approached.

The threats escalated further over the weekend. "Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT," Mr Trump posted on Truth Social on Saturday, "Time is running out - 48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them." As the deadline loomed, his posts became increasingly aggressive until Sunday, when he again pushed the deadline in an expletive-laden post.

AP Photo/Alex Brandon

"Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the F——-in’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell," Mr Trump stated on Truth Social, followed by another post specifying 8 p.m. as the deadline. On Monday, he suggested Tuesday's deadline would be final, asserting he had already granted Iran sufficient extensions. "The entire country can be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night," Mr Trump said. "We have a plan, because of the power of our military, where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o’clock tomorrow night."

Regarding the diplomatic path forward, Mojtaba Ferdousi Pour, who heads Iran’s diplomatic mission in Cairo, stated that Iran no longer trusts the Trump administration after the US bombed the Islamic Republic twice during previous rounds of talks. "We only accept an end of the war with guarantees that we won’t be attacked again," he told the Associated Press. A regional official involved in the talks, speaking anonymously, indicated that efforts had not collapsed, confirming: "We are still talking to both sides." Meanwhile, an Israeli TV station, Channel 13, featured a digital clock counting down the hours and minutes to Tuesday’s deadline on its evening newscast.