Trump Demands Iran Reopen Hormuz Strait or Face Attacks on Infrastructure
US President Donald Trump has issued a fresh ultimatum to Iran as the US-Israeli war with the country enters its sixth week. Trump says the US will begin attacking Iranian infrastructure if Tehran doesn't reopen the Strait of Hormuz. But Iran seems ready to ignore his latest threat.
U.S.-Iran Tensions Escalate Over Strait of Hormuz
REPORTER:
A motorcade carries US President Donald Trump away from a golf excursion on a rainy Easter Sunday in the state of Virginia. But the president has far more matters on his mind than golf, as he’s made clear in an expletive-filled social media post.
REPORTER:
More than a month after his administration and Israel launched strikes on Iran, war drags on. Iran is limiting access to the Strait of Hormuz — this waterway key to global oil and gas supplies. Trump has changed his mind on the strait, which he earlier said the US doesn’t need. Now, he’s threatening to strike Iran’s bridges and power plants Tuesday if Tehran doesn't reopen the strait by then. Iran says “no.”
Esmail Baghaei (IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN):
Our armed forces would target any similar infrastructure that is owned or in any way or manner related to the United States, or contributes to their act of aggression against Iran.
REPORTER:
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards say the strait will never return to the way it was — especially for the US and Israel.
REPORTER:
In the Iranian capital, Tehran, even some people not completely in line with the government’s Islamic policies feel a sense of defiant patriotism.
Katayoon Hadad (RESIDENT):
It’s true that some people wear different coverings. I myself don’t have a complete hijab, but I will never hand over my homeland to a people who are strangers to our country.
REPORTER:
For some in the Trump administration, this war has religious overtones — with Trump hailing the rescue of a US airman shot down over Iran as an “Easter miracle.” But some analysts say rescue operations don’t win wars. And they say Trump faces a stark choice about how far he will go as Iran holds on.
Ali Vaez (IRAN PROJECT DIRECTOR, INT’L CRISIS GROUP):
As impressive as the operation to rescue the airmen who were falling behind the enemy lines is, wars are not won by rescue operations. And President Trump has created a situation now that any kind of clean-cut victory is just not on the table. He is trapped in an escalation trap. His only option in order to get closer to his objectives is to go deeper into this crisis.
REPORTER:
Observers say that if Trump is serious and if Iran doesn’t back down, this war, far from over, is headed for a turning point.
Hank Hsu and John Van Trieste for TaiwanPlus.
