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The ultimatum set by the U.S. president may be an attempt to escalate the conflict to hasten its end, but Iran's current leadership appears willing to take risks and knows the administration was unprepared for the closure of the Strait of Hormuz
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Sometimes, "you have to escalate to deescalate," U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, who for some reason has become one of the Trump administration's leading spokespeople on the war with Iran, said on Sunday. That followed a statement by U.S. President Donald Trump in which he gave the Iranians 48 hours to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and threatened to destroy their major power plants if they refused. The deadline he set expires Monday night.
