Donald Trump mulls 'blowing up' Kharg Island in fiercest ultimatum yet over Iran peace deal, Hormuz Strait reopening

In the latest twist to US-Iran negotiations amid the war in the Gulf that is more than a month old now, US President Donald Trump warned that not agreeing on a peace deal and reopening the Hormuz Strait would have devastating consequences.

In a Truth Social post, Trump has warned that the US would end its "stay" in Iran by "blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinisation plants!)".

This is one of his most fiercest remarks on US plans to deploy ground troops to seize Kharg Island, in a bid to force Iran to the negotiating table.

He also framed the new ultimatum as "retribution for our many soldiers, and others, that Iran has butchered and killed over the old Regime’s 47 year 'Reign of Terror'.

This comes after the death of more than ten US soldiers over the course of the month-long war—which has also taken a heavy toll on the Arab nations in the vicinity of Iran—and have led to growing calls within the US to stop the war.

Many have also questioned Trump's pre-election promise of keeping the US out of wars: a big reason why he managed to garner a lot of votes from war veterans.

Iran, on its part, continues to warn the US of devastating consequences—for not just US troops that could possibly be deployed at Kharg Island, but many other Arab nations in the Middle East.

Unlike the US, which has made a number of empty threats on the war, Iran has followed up on some of its threats, such as 'closing' the Hormuz Strait to ships linked to the US and its allies, and fierce attacks on critical infrastructure in countries such as the UAE and Kuwait.

Iranian lawmaker M.B. Ghalibaf has also said earlier that the US attacks on its power plants would be met with reciprocal attacks on vital energy infrastructure in countries around the region, which would leave them "irreversibly destroyed".

Iran has also hit out at the US for taking part in peace talks while also threatening fierce action to try subduing Tehran, calling these stalling tactics to ease global markets as Trump mulls whether to deploy US Marines on an Iran mission that will not be as "easy" as Trump had hoped.