Trump Sets Deadline for Iran to Reopen Strait of Hormuz Amid Infrastructure Strikes

Donald Trump set a deadline of 8:00 p.m. US Eastern Time on Tuesday, April 7, 2026 — 2:00 a.m. CEST Wednesday — for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, threatening that the United States would destroy every bridge and power plant in Iran within four hours if the deadline passed without a deal. Writing on Truth Social, Trump escalated his rhetoric sharply on Tuesday, declaring that "tonight an entire civilization will perish, never to return again," while adding that he did not want that outcome and that a "revolutionarily wonderful" agreement remained possible. The ultimatum came as Israeli forces and US-led strikes were already targeting Iranian transport infrastructure, with Iran's state news agency Irna reporting a railway bridge near the cultural city of Kashan had been bombed, killing two people and injuring three. Iran simultaneously reported nationwide attacks on highways and rail networks, including strikes on a highway bridge on the route between Tabriz and Zanjan in East Azerbaijan province, and on rail infrastructure in Karaj, a city of millions west of Tehran. A substation in Karaj was also struck, causing power outages in several districts, according to the Iranian news agency Isna.

Revolutionary Guards threaten strikes beyond the Gulf Iran's Revolutionary Guards responded to the escalating strikes with threats of missile attacks on Israeli industry, infrastructure, and military targets, according to the news agency Tasnim. In a separate statement, the Guards warned they would target the infrastructure of the United States and its partners in the region if Washington crossed what they described as red lines, and said oil and natural gas supplies from the region could be interrupted for years. Iran's Deputy Sports Minister Alireza Rahimi called on artists and athletes to form human chains at power plants across the country at noon local time Tuesday, writing on X that "attacks on public infrastructure are a war crime." Iran had previously rejected a US proposal for a 45-day ceasefire with parallel peace negotiations that would have included reopening the Strait of Hormuz, according to reporting by newsORF.at. An airport in the western Iranian city of Khorramabad was also bombed on Tuesday, with the deputy governor of Lorestan province telling the news agency Mehr that no fatalities were recorded in that strike. 2 (fatalities) — people killed in Kashan railway bridge airstrike

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France condemns civilian targeting, experts doubt US capacity French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot warned explicitly that attacks on civilian and energy infrastructure are prohibited under the rules of warfare and international law, telling the radio station France Info that such strikes would "undoubtedly initiate a new phase of escalation and retaliatory measures" that would "plunge the region and the global economy into a disturbing vicious cycle." Barrot also noted that fuel prices had already jumped and that strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure would prompt Iranian retaliation, further worsening an already concerning situation. „If we all speak out against attacks on civilian and energy infrastructure, it is primarily because they are excluded according to the rules of warfare and international law, and secondly, because in the case of the war in Iran, they would undoubtedly initiate a new phase of escalation and retaliatory measures.” — Jean-Noël Barrot via N-tv Military analyst Peter Layton, a former officer of the Australian Air Force, told CNN that Trump's claim Iran could be "knocked out in one night" did not match actual US-Israeli military capacity, estimating that the combined force could drop only around 330 bombs weighing more than 900 kilograms in a single operation — far fewer than would be needed to destroy hundreds of power plants and bridges. Political scientist Stephan Bierling, speaking to the German broadcaster tagesschau24, described Trump as "increasingly nervous," saying the US president had "slithered into this conflict relatively blindly" and was now running out of good options, with the Strait of Hormuz impossible to secure permanently without ground troops. „Nobody expected that Iran would manage to defend itself for so long. The regime has everything to lose. It will not give up.” — Stephan Bierling via tagesschau.de

China cushions fuel prices, Japan pursues direct Iran talks China moved to slow the rise of domestic fuel prices as the Iran war pushed oil costs higher, with the government intervening so that retail price caps for gasoline and diesel would rise from midnight only half as much as they would have without state action, according to Handelsblatt. In Shanghai, local media reported pump prices rising from 8.53 yuan to approximately 8.9 yuan per liter as a result of the partial adjustment. Japan, meanwhile, was pursuing direct negotiations with Iran despite US President Donald Trump's expectation that both Japan and South Korea would provide military support in the conflict over the Strait of Hormuz, according to Süddeutsche Zeitung. The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz was cutting off roughly one-fifth of global kerosene supplies by sea, primarily affecting Asia, with airlines in Vietnam, Myanmar, and Pakistan already operating in crisis mode due to tight fuel supplies, according to N-tv. Operation Epic Fury, the US-Israel military campaign against Iran, began on February 28, 2026, with strikes that killed then-Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Mojtaba Khamenei, his son, was appointed Supreme Leader on March 9, 2026. The Strait of Hormuz has been identified for decades as a critical chokepoint for global oil supplies, carrying a significant share of the world's seaborne crude oil exports. The current conflict marks the first direct US military engagement against Iran and has triggered widespread disruption to global energy markets since its outbreak. The Truth Social posts from Trump on Tuesday represented some of the most extreme public rhetoric from a sitting US president toward a foreign state in the modern era, though analysts cited by multiple German outlets cautioned that the gap between Trump's stated threats and available military means remained significant.