President Donald Trump is holding a news conference at the White House after announcing the rescue of a second crew member from a downed F-15 fighter jet in Iran. The president also spoke about the rescue operation and the war with Iran at the White House Easter Egg Roll.
In his initial remarks at the White House news conference, Trump threatened to take out the “entire country” of Iran.
“The entire country can be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night,” Trump said.
He had given tomorrow at 8 p.m. ET as the deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a major shipping route for oil, or suffer the widespread destruction of its infrastructure.
It comes as Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency said Tehran rejected the latest ceasefire proposal and wants a permanent end to the war. The agency said it has conveyed its response to the U.S. through Pakistan, a key mediator.
“We only accept an end of the war with guarantees that we won’t be attacked again,” Mojtaba Ferdousi Pour, head of the Iranian diplomatic mission in Cairo, told The Associated Press on Monday.
Trump responded with a new harsh warning to Iran.
“They just don’t want to say ‘uncle,'” Trump told reporters as he and first lady Melania Trump hosted the White House Easter Egg Roll. “They don’t want to cry as the expression goes ‘uncle,’ but they will. And if they don’t, they’ll have no bridges. They’ll have no power plants. They’ll have no anything.”
He added another ominous warning, “I won’t go further because there are other things that are worse than those two.”
Meanwhile, Israel and the United States carried out a wave of attacks on Iran, killing more than 25 people. Iran responded with missile fire on Israel and its Gulf Arab neighbors.