Trump issues 48-hour warning before 'hell will rain down' on Iran as search for missing US pilot continues
Trump's comments come as the US and Iran race to find an American airman who was shot down in enemy territory.
Donald Trump has issued a 48-hour warning to Iran to make a deal, or "hell will reign [sic] down on them".
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Taking to his social media platform Truth Social, the US President wrote: "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 down on them. Glory be to GOD! President DONALD J. TRUMP."
On 27 March, Trump announced he was pausing any attack on Iranian energy plants for 10 days from then.
Trump's comments come as the US and Iran race to find an American airman who was shot down in enemy territory.
Iran is offering a "precious prize" for the pilot's capture, with some reports claiming anyone who is able to capture the US airman would be given $60,000.
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Iran said it shot down a second US warplane over the Gulf, which US media said was an A-10 Warthog.
It was reportedly shot at during a search-and-rescue mission for the first downed aircraft. The Warthog's pilot ejected over the Gulf and was subsequently rescued.
Trump has said negotiations to end the Iran war won't be affected by the latest events.
Asked by NBC if Friday's events would affect any peace discussions, the US leader said: "No, not at all. No, it's war. We're in war."
Video footage shared on social media has shown armed Iranian men firing at US helicopters searching for the pilot.
The video shows three men wearing white shirts and black trousers jumping out of a car beside a field in southwestern Iran.
As one low-flying helicopter passes by, the men open fire with what appear to be automatic rifles.The person filming says: "Shoot, shoot. Well done! Shoot.”
Tehran fired drones and missiles at targets across the Middle East on Friday, setting a refinery on fire and damaging a desalination plant in Kuwait.
Sir Keir Starmer has condemned the “reckless” Iranian attack on an oil refinery in Kuwait and confirmed the deployment of Britain’s rapid sentry air defence system to the Gulf country.
In a call with Kuwait’s crown prince, the Prime Minister also discussed coordinated efforts to reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz oil and gas shipping lane blockaded by Iran in retaliation for the US-Israeli campaign against it.
Trump recently threatened to hit Iran’s bridges and electric power plants, saying the US military “hasn’t even started destroying what’s left in Iran.”
His comments came after a deadly US air strike on a major suspension bridge near Tehran, which the UN’s humanitarian relief chief Tom Fletcher said constituted a breach of international law.