President Donald Trump has set deadlines, made demands and issued threats over the course of the five-week joint US-Israeli war against Iran. But seldom have they been this explicit.
The new round of strikes against Iran will be devastating. They will begin at 20:00, Washington DC time (01:00 GMT) on Tuesday. Within four hours, every bridge and power plant in the nation will be decimated.
Very little is off-limits, Trump said on Monday.
To avoid this fate, according to the president, Iran has to make a deal that's acceptable to me. A component of the agreement should include free traffic of oil through the Strait of Hormuz.
As the final hours tick down, there has been little indication that Iran is ready to agree to Trump's ultimatum. They've rejected a temporary ceasefire and issued their own list of demands, which a US official described as maximalist.
This places the American president in a delicate position. If there is no agreement, Trump could extend his deadline – for the fourth time in the past three weeks. However, backing away after such detailed threats could undercut his credibility as the war grinds on.
Despite the pressure, Trump remains optimistic, citing an active, willing participant on the Iranian side, but the stakes are high, and the situation remains tenuous.
As military operations loom, Trump must balance the complexities of power dynamics, international diplomacy, and the realities of an ongoing conflict that could have far-reaching implications for United States-Iran relations.
