US President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened to unleash "hell" upon Iran if the country doesn't make a deal with Washington or open the vital Strait of Hormuz in the next 48 hours.
"Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, referring to his ultimatum issued on March 26.
"Time is running out -- 48 hours before all Hell will reign (sic) down on them," the president said, adding: "Glory be to GOD!"
Trump's threat came as Iranian media reported US-Israeli attacks targeting key sites in the country, including a nuclear plant, a petrochemical hub, a trade terminal and a cement factory.
An attack near the Bushehr nuclear power station killed one of the facility's guards but caused no damage, the official IRNA news agency said. The UN's IAEA nuclear watchdog said no increased radiation levels had been detected.
The strike happened just minutes before Russia started the evacuation of 198 more of its workers from the Bushehr plant, which it helped build and assists in operating.
An attack on a petrochemical hub in the southwestern port city of Mahshahr wounded five people, the Fars news agency said.
Iranian media said a strike on a trade terminal in Khorramshahr, on the border with Iraq, killed one person. The ISNA news agency said the fatality was an Iraqi driver, and two Iranian workers were wounded.
Another strike hit a cement factory in the southern port of Bandar Khamir, Tasnim news agency said. Iran's science minister, Hossein Simai Sarraf, said that "more than 30 universities" had been targeted since the war began.
Trump had on March 21 threatened to "obliterate" Iran's power plants, beginning with the country's biggest, "if Iran doesn't FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 HOURS."
Two days later, however, he said "very good and productive conversations" were being held with Iranian authorities, and that he had postponed any strikes on power plants for five days.
He later again pushed the deadline back, to expire at 8:00 pm Monday (0000 GMT Tuesday).
Experts have said that attacks on civilian energy infrastructure could constitute a war crime.
Meanwhile, Iran stepped up attacks on its neighbours in the Gulf hosting US-Israeli military assets. Four people were injured by shrapnel from intercepted drones in Bahrain, authorities said. Separately, two buildings in Dubai were hit by debris, including one housing the US cloud computing firm Oracle, United Arab Emirates authorities said.
Israel also reported missile attacks from Iran, which medics reported wounded one person.
Israel's emergency services said a 45‑year‑old man was treated for minor injuries from glass shrapnel in the central city of Bnei Brak.
(With inputs from AFP)
