Trump said on Tuesday he could ‘take out’ Iran, Hegseth says major strikes are coming

By Nandita Bose and Steve Holland

WASHINGTON, April 6 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday that Iran could be taken out overnight, “and that night could be tomorrow night,” warning that Tehran must reach a deal by Tuesday night or face a massive bombing.

Trump had previously promised to impose a Tuesday night deadline for Iran to agree to a cease-fire deal or face widespread attacks on power plants and other critical infrastructure. Trump has demanded that Iran give up its nuclear weapons and reopen the Strait of Hormuz oil transit waterway.

“The whole country could be taken out overnight, and that night could be tomorrow night,” Trump said at a White House news conference.

“I hope I don’t have to do it,” Trump said.

Critics have said Trump would commit war crimes if the U.S. attacked civilian power plants, something Trump dismissed Monday.

“I’m not worried about that. You know what a war crime is? Having nuclear weapons,” Trump said Monday during an Easter egg event for children on the White House South Lawn.

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said at a briefing that the largest-scale strike since the first day of operations against Iran would take place on Monday and warned that there would be more on Tuesday.

Rescue work

Joined by Hegseth and other top national security advisers, Trump detailed a weekend U.S. operation to recover U.S. airmen holed up in mountainous Iranian terrain and captured by Iranian forces.

He said the airman, identified only as “Dude 44 Bravo,” continued to climb higher to improve his chances of recovery. He said the airman was seen walking through an unidentified American camera link. “It was like looking for a needle in a haystack,” Trump said.

Hundreds of U.S. troops were involved in search and recovery missions to prevent the Iranians from finding him first, he said.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe, who joined Trump at the event, said the agency had engaged in a “deception campaign” to convince the Iranians that the airman was somewhere.

Ratcliffe said that on Saturday morning the CIA confirmed that “one of America’s best and bravest is alive and hiding in a mountain crevice, still invisible to the enemy, but not to the CIA.”

The pilot who was shot down on Friday was found on Sunday morning.

“In a thrilling display of skill and precision, lethality and force, U.S. forces entered the field, the actual field, engaged the enemy, rescued trapped officers, destroyed all threats, and exited Iranian territory without any casualties,” Trump said.

Hegseth said the missing airman used an emergency transponder to show where he was and his first message was: “God is good.”

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Kane, said the recovered airman was a ‘back seater’ on the crashed plane.

“In this case, the back seater’s total commitment to survival made many of our efforts possible,” Kane said.

‘willing to suffer’

Trump said, without providing evidence, that the United States had received “many interruptions” from Iranian citizens urging the United States not to give up trying to oust the Iranian government.

“They will be willing to suffer this to have freedom,” Trump said.

Earlier, speaking to reporters at the White House Easter event, Trump said Iran’s proposal was insufficient.

“They had a proposal, and it’s an important proposal. It’s an important step. It’s not good enough,” Trump told reporters at an Easter event at the White House.

Trump said the five-week conflict could end soon if Iran “does what they have to do.”

“They have to do some things. They know, they’re negotiating, I think in good faith,” he said.

(Reporting by Nandita Bose and Steve Holland; Editing by David Ljunggren, Michelle Nichols and Deepa Babington)