Donald Trump threatened this Sunday to destroy every power plant and every bridge in Iran if the regime does not accept the agreement proposed by Washington, in a message posted on his social network Truth Social that shook the world less than 72 hours before the bilateral ceasefire expires on April 22.
The threat comes after Iranian forces fired on Saturday at a French vessel and a British cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz, which Trump described as "a total violation of our ceasefire agreement".
The words of the American president left no room for interpretation: "We are offering a very fair and reasonable deal, and I hope they accept it because if they don't, the United States will destroy every power plant and every bridge in Iran. Being the nice guy is over!"
The image conveyed by those words is harsh and raises concern even among those who support the end of the ayatollahs' regime: 90 million Iranians could suffer the consequences of their threats and be left without electricity, drinking water, operational hospitals, or communications.
Trump went even further: "They will fall quickly, they will fall easily and, if they do not accept the deal, it will be an honor for me to do what must be done, something that other presidents should have done with Iran in the last 47 years. It is time for the Iranian killing machine to come to an end!".
At the same time, the president announced that his representatives are traveling this Sunday to Islamabad, Pakistan, to negotiate on Monday with the Iranian delegation in what could be the final diplomatic opportunity before the ceasefire expires.
The clock has been ticking since April 8, when a two-week truce mediated by Pakistan was agreed upon, conditional on the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
The prior negotiations, held in Islamabad from April 10 to 12, failed: Washington demanded the complete dismantling of Iran's nuclear program and a twenty-year moratorium on uranium enrichment, while Tehran offered only five years and requested $270 billion in compensation.
On April 16, Trump claimed that Iran had agreed to halt its nuclear program, but two days later the regime reimposed strict control over the Strait and opened fire on foreign vessels.
Trump also pointed out that the closure of the Strait costs Iran 500 million dollars a day, while the United States, he said, "does not lose anything."
The European Council described this Sunday the threat to destroy Iranian civilian infrastructure as "illegal and unacceptable," aligning with what several analysts have pointed out as a potential violation of international humanitarian law.
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