Trump’s ultimatum loomed over diplomacy and battlefield developments as the prospect of a deal with Iran edged closer to a Tuesday deadline, even as Tehran rejected a ceasefire proposal and Israel struck targets tied to Iran’s war capacity. In Washington, Trump said the United States had given Iran “enough extensions” and suggested he would not back off again as the deadline approached.
Iran’s position presented a central obstacle: Tehran rejected the 45-day ceasefire proposal and said it wants a permanent end to the war, according to Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency. In remarks carried by the Associated Press, Mojtaba Ferdousi Pour, head of Iran’s diplomatic mission in Cairo, said Iran would only accept an end of the war with guarantees it will not be attacked again, adding that Iran no longer trusts the Trump administration after the U.S. bombed the Islamic Republic twice during previous rounds of talks.
Alongside Trump’s expanded threat, the Associated Press reported that the U.S. told Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz to all shipping traffic or see power plants and bridges wiped out. The warning prompted concerns from international observers about the legality of attacks on civilian infrastructure, and the United Nations later said such attacks violate international law.
Regional diplomacy continued in parallel. Egyptian, Pakistani and Turkish mediators had sent Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff a proposal calling for a ceasefire and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, according to two Mideast officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private negotiations. An official involved in talks also told the Associated Press, on condition of anonymity, that efforts had not collapsed: “We are still talking to both sides.”
Tehran, however, signaled it was seeking something more durable than a short pause. Iran’s rejection came after the country said it wants guarantees for a permanent end to fighting, and Pour said Iran only accepts an end of the war with those assurances. Separate reporting from the Associated Press described additional diplomatic work, including Iranian and Omani officials working on a mechanism for administering the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s oil ships in peacetime.
Israel’s military actions added pressure to the timetable. The Associated Press reported that Israel struck a key petrochemical plant in the South Pars natural gas field, and that Israel said the strike targeted a major source of revenue for Iran. The field, the world’s largest, is shared with Qatar and provides Iran’s biggest source of domestic energy, the report said, with the South Pars strike appearing separate from Trump’s threats.
Israel also reported killing top Iranian officials tied to the Revolutionary Guard, including Maj. Gen. Majid Khademi, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard intelligence chief, according to Iranian state media, and Asghar Bakeri, whom Israel said led the Revolutionary Guard’s undercover unit in its Quds Force. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel would continue to “hunt them down one by one,” after describing additional actions against senior officials. Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, issued a rare statement expressing condolences over Khademi, the Associated Press reported, noting that Khamenei has not been seen or heard in public before.
As the threat expanded, Trump also laid out language about how quickly strikes could come, saying that the “entire country can be taken out in one night” and suggesting “that night might be tomorrow night.” He also said “Every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o’clock tomorrow night,” adding that all power plants would be “burning, exploding and never to be used again.” The Associated Press reported that when asked about war-crimes accusations, Trump responded, “No, not at all,” and he suggested Iranians wanted the U.S. to carry out its threats.
On the ground and across the region, reported strikes continued. Activists reported a new wave of strikes on Tehran early Tuesday, and Israel claimed credit without immediate details on the targets. The Associated Press reported that airstrikes hit the grounds of Sharif University of Technology near Tehran’s Azadi Square, and Iranian authorities and state media reported at least 29 people killed across Iran by strikes. In Lebanon, where Israel has launched attacks and a ground invasion that it says targets Hezbollah, the report said an airstrike hit an apartment in Ain Saadeh, killing a Lebanese Forces official, his wife and another woman.
Meanwhile, some diplomatic developments reached outward through other channels. Japan said Tuesday that a Japanese national detained in Iran since January was released on bail, and Minoru Kihara, Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, told reporters in Tokyo that the release was confirmed Monday and that Japan was demanding a full release from Iranian authorities. The Associated Press reported that the Japanese ambassador met the person released, who Japan said was in good health without providing further details, and that the individual was believed to be a journalist at NHK. The report also said another Japanese national released in March had been detained in Iran last June.
The United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric later warned journalists that any attack on civilian infrastructure is a violation of international law. With strikes continuing and a diplomatic timetable pressing forward, the central question remained whether Iran’s rejected ceasefire proposal could be reframed into a lasting end to fighting—especially amid repeated ultimatums and escalating pressure tied to the Strait of Hormuz.