Donald Trump has published a brief but crucial message in which he sets the timing:
Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. (Eastern Time, United States).
That time reference corresponds in Spain to Wednesday at 2:00 a.m. (peninsular time).
The difference is explained by the six-hour time gap between the U.S. East Coast and Spain.
That moment marks the deadline of the ultimatum issued by the United States to Iran amid an escalating conflict.
From that point on, Washington could activate new military or strategic decisions if its demands are not met.
Iran responds to Trump
The spokesperson for Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Esmail Baqaei, warned on Sunday that any potential U.S. bombing of the country’s power plants would constitute a war crime and a crime against humanity.
“Threatening to attack a country’s critical infrastructure, its energy sector, means putting the entire population at risk. That is nothing less than a war crime and a crime against humanity,” Baqaei said in an interview with the pan-Arab network Al Jazeera.
Meanwhile, the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Mohamad Baqer Qalibaf, lashed out at what he described as Trump’s “reckless actions,” claiming they are “dragging the United States into a living hell for each of its families.”
“The entire region will burn because you insist on following the orders of (Benjamin) Netanyahu,” he argued.
“Do not be mistaken: you will gain nothing from war crimes. The only real solution is to respect the rights of the Iranian people and put an end to this dangerous game,” he added.
Qalibaf also conditioned the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz on “full compensation for all war damages through transit tariffs” in the strait.
At the same time, presidential spokesperson Mohammad Mehdi Tabatabaei criticized Trump for resorting to “obscenities and nonsense” out of “desperation and anger.”
“The stupid bastard has started a large-scale, insane war in the region and continues to boast about it,” he said.
Iranian state television, IRIB, also broadcast on Sunday a brief message from Supreme Leader Moqtaba Jamenei, dated March 12, in which he insists that the Strait of Hormuz “must remain closed.”
“The Strait of Hormuz must remain closed. Dear brothers in arms: the will of the masses is to continue effective defense. The leverage of blocking the Strait of Hormuz must definitely continue to be used,” he stated.