Netanyahu: 'Today we attacked their petrochemical factories'

Trump: Iran faces ‘all hell’ if it doesn’t make a deal or open Hormuz in 48 hours

Israeli defense official says awaiting US approval to bomb energy sites, as US president warns ‘time running out’ on his ultimatum to hit power grid; Iranian general derides ‘helpless, stupid’ threats

US President Donald Trump on Saturday vowed to rain “hell” on Iran if it fails to reach a ceasefire deal or open the Strait of Hormuz by Monday, when time runs out on an ultimatum that he has extended twice.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to strike Iran’s power grid if Tehran fails to comply with US demands. On Saturday, a senior Israeli defense official said Israel was preparing to attack Iranian energy facilities, likely within the next week, but was awaiting a green light from the US.

Writing on his Truth Social platform, Trump warned, “Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT. Time is running out — 48 hours before all hell will reign [sic] down on them. Glory be to GOD!”

Trump first threatened on March 21 to strike Iran’s power grid if it did not agree to a US ceasefire proposal within 48 hours. Hours before the deadline on March 23, he pushed it off by five days, to last Saturday, saying ceasefire talks were “going very well.”

He again delayed the deadline by 10 days to April 6, this coming Monday, claiming he was doing so “as per Iranian government request.” Iran has denied making such a request or even negotiating with the US, and mediation efforts have reportedly hit a dead end.

Responding to Trump, General Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi of Iran’s central military command said the US threat was a “a helpless, nervous, unbalanced and stupid action.”

Echoing the religious language of Trump’s social media post, he warned that “the simple meaning of this message is that the gates of hell will open for you.”

Following Aliabadi’s comments, Trump again took to social media with footage of an airstrike in Iran, which he declared had killed “many of Iran’s military leaders, who have led them poorly and unwisely.”

He did not elaborate on the details of the strike or its targets.

Separately on Saturday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to keep striking Iran’s heavy industry, asserting the military destroyed most of Iran’s capacity to produce the missiles it fires at Israel.

“After we destroyed 70 percent of its ability to create steel, which is used as the raw material for the weapons used against us, today we attacked their petrochemical factories,” said Netanyahu in a video statement released shortly after the end of Shabbat.

“These two things are their money machine, which funds their war of terror against us and against the world,” he said. “We will continue to hit them, as I promised.”

The Times of Israel has learned that the IDF was ordered by the political echelon late last month to shift to hitting “economic” targets of the Iranian regime after the military had nearly completed bombing all the targets it set for itself when the war began.

Israel and the US launched a bombing campaign on Iran on February 28 in a bid to destabilize its regime and destroy its ballistic missile and nuclear programs. Iran has responded with missile and drone strikes across the region and by effectively blockading the vital Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil shipments normally travel.

A US proposal to end the war reportedly includes demands that Iran dismantle its nuclear program, limit its ballistic missiles, halt support for terrorist proxies and relinquish control of the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has reportedly demanded reparations for damages inflicted in the war and guarantees that it won’t be attacked again.

Emanuel Fabian, Times of Israel staff and agencies contributed to this report.