Trump’s 8 p.m. ET Tuesday deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz arrived as the US president issued his most specific and severe threat yet, warning that the destruction of Iran’s entire infrastructure would take just four hours. At a White House press conference Monday, Trump told reporters that every bridge in Iran would be demolished by midnight Tuesday and every power plant would burn and never function again. He added that the operation could happen over a period of four hours if the US chose to act at that pace, while also saying he does not want it to come to that.

Trump stated the entire country of Iran could be taken out in a single night, and that night could be Tuesday. When a reporter asked if he was concerned about committing war crimes by targeting civilian infrastructure, Trump said he was not concerned at all and refused to say whether any civilian targets would be off-limits. Iran’s deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi responded by saying Trump’s threats violate the Geneva Conventions and amount to an act of aggression under the UN Charter, adding that Trump now bears individual criminal responsibility before the International Criminal Court.

Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei stayed defiant, stating in a written message that Iran’s forces will not be deterred by the assassinations of commanders. He said the combatants on the path of truth in Iran form a deeply rooted front that terrorism and crime cannot crack. An adviser to Khamenei separately warned that Iran views the Bab al-Mandeb Strait with the same intensity as Hormuz and that the flow of global energy and trade can be disrupted with a single signal if the US repeats what he called its foolish mistakes. Iran’s foreign ministry also stated on Tuesday that the US has destroyed the path to diplomacy.

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