Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi declared Sunday that his country will not be intimidated by threats, responding directly to US President Donald Trump's ultimatum to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face strikes on Iran's power plants.
“Strait of Hormuz is not closed. Ships hesitate because insurers fear the war of choice you initiated - not Iran," Araghchi wrote in a post on social media.
He added, “No insurer - and no Iranian - will be swayed by more threats. Try respect. Freedom of Navigation cannot exist without Freedom of Trade. Respect both - or expect neither."
Araghchi’s remarks came a day after US President Donald Trump issued an ultimatum to Iran, demanding that it reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours or face strikes on its power plants.
“If Iran doesn’t FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 HOURS from this exact point in time, the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!" the President wrote in a post on Truth Social.
Responding to the ultimatum, Iran threatened to strike all US and Israeli infrastructure across the region if its facilities came under attack.
"If Iran's fuel and energy infrastructure is attacked by the enemy, all energy, information technology, and desalination infrastructure belonging to the United States and the (Israeli) regime in the region will be targeted," a spokesperson for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, the body overseeing Iranian military operations, said in a statement quoted in Iran’s Fars news agency.
On Friday, Trump wrote that the United States is approaching its strategic objectives in its military campaign against what he described as the “terrorist regime of Iran," signaling that American operations in the Middle East may soon wind down.
Trump’s post came after he indicated, in a conversation with reporters, that he does not want a ceasefire with Iran right now.
"I don't want to do a ceasefire. You know you don't do a ceasefire when you're literally obliterating the other side," he said.