“Bastards”: Trump’s ultimatum – Hardly any hope for a ceasefire

Iran war

“Bastards”: Trump’s ultimatum – Hardly any hope for a ceasefire

Nerves are on edge in the Iran war. Trump threatens Tehran with harsh words and issues what appears to be a final ultimatum. Iran appears unimpressed – and rumbles itself.

Five weeks after the start of the war, US President Donald Trump and Iran are attacking each other with threats and insults instead of publicly promoting peace. Pakistani intelligence circles said on Easter Monday that the warring parties had been presented with a plan for a 45-day ceasefire with peace talks. However, a rapprochement, especially regarding the opening of the Strait of Hormuz blocked by Iran, seems far away.

Trump on Sunday gave Iran a deadline of Tuesday evening (2 a.m. CEST on Wednesday) to open “the damn Strait (of Hormuz).” “Or you will end up in hell,” wrote the US President on his Truth Social platform – with the insult “crazy bastards”, which is translated in a comparatively friendly way as “crazy bastards”.

Iran responded with its own threats. If the United States and Israel escalate their attacks, shipping lanes beyond the Strait of Hormuz that are important to the global energy market could be at risk, Ali-Akbar Welajati, foreign policy adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, warned, according to pro-government broadcaster Press TV. This could affect the Bab al-Mandab Strait and thus the entrance to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. Mehdi Tabatabaei, the official in charge of communications in the presidential office, called Trump a “bastard fool.”

According to its own statements, the Iranian leadership conveyed its “demands and claims” to the mediators. The US demands are “excessive and unacceptable,” said Foreign Office spokesman Ismail Baghai, according to the state news agency Irna. A 15-point plan from the USA that demands major concessions from Iran has been under discussion for some time. In addition to Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey are mediating between Washington and Tehran. Meanwhile, Iran continued its missile and drone attacks on neighboring countries in the Gulf at the beginning of the week.

The US news portal “Axios”, citing statements from four US, Israeli and regional sources, reported that the 45-day ceasefire was the only chance to prevent a dramatic escalation. Massive US attacks on Iranian civil infrastructure would result in retaliatory strikes against energy and desalination plants in the Gulf states. Trump told the Wall Street Journal: “If they don’t do anything by Tuesday evening, no power plant or bridge will remain standing.”

The former deputy security advisor to former US President Barack Obama, Ben Rhodes, sees this as an announcement of war crimes. It feels “increasingly as if one man in a room is making decisions,” Rhodes told the BBC. Trump is not following the normal process and does not appear to be using political and military advisors. “We’re going to find out whether the U.S. military is willing to say ‘no’ to Trump,” Rhodes said.