Trump threatens to take out Iran in 'one night' if no deal before deadline

Donald Trump threatened to take out Iran "in one night" if it fails to make a deal before the deadline he set for Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The deadline for an "acceptable" deal is set for 20:00, Washington DC time on Tuesday (00:00 GMT Wednesday). He said that once the deadline passes, Iran would be sent back to the "Stone Ages" and that "They're going to have no bridges...They're going to have no power plants."

Trump said he believed "reasonable" leaders in Iran were negotiating in "good faith", but the outcome remained uncertain. Iran has rejected proposals for a temporary ceasefire, instead calling for a permanent end to the conflict and the lifting of sanctions. Trump's news conference was held alongside General Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and defence secretary Pete Hegseth. American forces have conducted over 13,000 strikes across Iran since the war began, according to an update from the US military's Central Command on Monday.

A regional official familiar with the discussions said that meaningful progress in any negotiation is unlikely to take place without a ceasefire first. The official said that talks were complicated because of difficulties in getting messages to and from Iranian officials amid an ongoing communications blackout and that "To convey messages to Iran, getting a response in a reasonable time is not possible...The average time of response has been a day or so." Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt have all been involved in efforts to mediate. Trump said he has "the best plan" but that he won't divulge it to the media.