The sound of victory following what the White House explained that a daring operation to rescue an injured American pilot from Iran, US President Donald Trump on Monday repeated his warning that the US could strike critical Iranian infrastructure if talks fail to produce the expected results by their deadline of Tuesday, April 7 at 8pm EST.
“Their whole country could be taken out overnight and that night could be tomorrow,” the US president said of Iran.
With Trump’s deadline looming, Pakistan floated a cease-fire proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz ahead of 15 to 20 days of talks, but Tehran rejected the offer, warning of “further repression” and “larger attacks” in retaliation.
Led by US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and US Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine, Trump described the “major operation” carried out to rescue the crew of the F-15 that crashed in Iran, calling it “historic”.
It was an “amazing display of strength and precision,” the US president said of the operation that saved the F-15 pilot and the weapons officer without injury.
Trump also said his administration was investigating an alleged “leaker” who revealed that at least one US serviceman was missing, and vowed to ask “national security” to get information from the first media outlet to report it.
On Sunday, the US president issued a 48-hour deadline, demanding that Tehran reopen the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday at 8.00pm EST, and threatening a “rain of bombs” targeting Iran’s public infrastructure, including power stations and bridges.
