NYT: Iran War Live Updates: Trump Escalates Threat to Hit Iranian Power Plants After U.S. Rescues Downed Airman
President Trump used an expletive-laden social media post to taunt Iranian leaders, saying that the United States would attack if they did not fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
NYT: President Trump on Sunday escalated his threats to bomb Iranian power plants within the next two days and taunted the country’s leaders in an expletive-laden social media post.
Mr. Trump, seemingly emboldened by the successful U.S. rescue of an American airman in Iran over the weekend, issued a new ultimatum to Iran to end its chokehold over the Strait of Hormuz, a major Persian Gulf waterway for the transport of oil and gas, by Apr. 6.
If Iran’s government did not, he said, U.S. forces would target the country’s energy infrastructure, which supplies power for millions of civilians.
“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!!” Mr. Trump wrote on social media. The president has previously postponed his deadline to attack twice and the Omani foreign ministry said on Sunday that officials had discussed how to reopen the Strait of Hormuz with Iranian counterparts without reaching a definitive agreement.
“Praise be to Allah,” Mr. Trump added, before signing off in all caps.
Iran has threatened to retaliate by intensifying its attacks on critical infrastructure in Israel and Arab states that are allied with the United States. An escalation could further derail the lives of civilians throughout the region and add to worries about the global economy, which has been rattled by soaring energy prices since the start of the war.
Over the past two days, the U.S. military has been in a race with Iranian armed forces to find the missing airman after an F-15E jet was shot down over Iran on Friday, in the first known instance of a U.S. combat aircraft since the start of the war.
The plane’s pilot was quickly rescued. But a second officer was stranded in Iran and injured in the incident. American commandoes found the airman deep inside Iranian territory under the cover of darkness.
The New York Times deleted Trump’s “open the fuckin’ strait” line to make him look less insane
Their write-up falsely says his post says only “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!!” and “Praise be to Allah”
