Trump Gives Iran 48-Hour Ultimatum to Open Hormuz
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- Trump gave Iran 48 hours to open the Strait of Hormuz, warning in a social media post that "all Hell will reign down on them," while Iran's joint military command called the threat "unbalanced and foolish."
- Iranian Gen. Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi threatened "all infrastructure used by the U.S. military in the region" if Iran's infrastructure is attacked, and state TV urged residents to hand over the missing "enemy pilot" to police.
- The Pentagon confirmed two US warplanes — an F-15E Strike Eagle and an A-10 — were downed on Friday; one crew member was rescued and a second service member remains missing in Iran's Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province.
- Israel struck a petrochemical complex in Mahshahr that Netanyahu said helps fund the war, killing five and injuring 170, while an airstrike hit near Iran's Bushehr nuclear facility for the fourth time, killing a security guard and triggering evacuation of 198 Rosatom workers.
- Pakistan, Turkey, and Egypt are mediating a proposed ceasefire that would halt hostilities to allow diplomacy, with Pakistan saying efforts are "right on track" and Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi confirming officials "have never refused to go to Islamabad."
- Iran's parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf threatened the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, through which more than a tenth of seaborne global oil passes, while Oracle's Dubai headquarters was struck after the IRGC labeled major US tech firms legitimate targets.
Why it matters: With the war in its sixth week and 1,900+ killed in Iran alone, the 48-hour Hormuz deadline ratchets pressure on a global oil corridor that has already been rattled. Pakistan-Turkey-Egypt mediation is racing Trump's clock, and if the strait stays closed, fuel prices that already spiked will climb further while civilian infrastructure on both sides remains in the crosshairs.
