Trump turns up the pressure

United States President Donald Trump has issued another warning to Iran, saying the country has two days to “make a deal or open up the Hormuz Strait.”

His brief Truth Social post on Saturday came as the search continued for a US pilot believed to have ejected over Iran after an F-15 fighter jet crashed there. Trump did not mention the search in the post, because apparently one crisis at a time would be too generous.

Iran has said it was responsible for bringing down the aircraft, which would be the first such incident since the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran on February 28.

A separate incident on Friday added to the confusion, with Iran claiming it had shot down an A-10 Warthog near the Strait of Hormuz. That raised fresh questions about Trump’s earlier claim that the US had already established dominance over Iran’s airspace.

Instead of addressing either crash, Trump focused on the deadline he set out on March 26.

He had told Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz to international traffic or face the “destruction” of its energy facilities. That 10-day deadline is due to expire on Monday.

“Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT,” Trump wrote. “Time is running out - 48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them. Glory be to GOD!”

Negotiations remain stuck

Trump did not elaborate on the new threat, but this week he has repeatedly escalated his rhetoric. In a series of posts, he said the US could attack Iran’s power plants, oil facilities and “possibly all desalinization plants”.

During a national address on Wednesday, he threatened to bomb Iran “back to the Stone Ages.” On Friday, he also praised a strike on a bridge linking Tehran to the Caspian Sea.

The warnings have drawn legal concern. More than 100 international law experts published an open letter this week saying that targeting civilian infrastructure would violate the Geneva Convention and could amount to war crimes.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has offered shifting explanations for what it wants and how the conflict might end. Officials have repeatedly said the US prefers a diplomatic solution. Trump, for his part, has talked up “victories” while also suggesting attacks could continue for weeks.

Iran and the US have also been sending mixed signals about whether peace talks are moving anywhere useful.

On Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran remained open to diplomacy after rejecting what he called an “unreasonable” 15-point proposal from the Trump administration.

“What we care about are the terms of a conclusive and lasting END to the illegal war that is imposed on us,” Araghchi said in a post on X.

The US has argued that Iran’s demand to keep “sovereignty” over the Strait of Hormuz is not acceptable.

Pakistan has said it will keep trying to support ceasefire talks despite the growing “obstacles”.

Search for pilot continues

Trump has not publicly commented on the effort to find the US pilot. But NBC News reported on Friday that he did not believe the incident would affect negotiations with Iran.

“No, not at all. No, it’s war,” he reportedly told the network in a phone call.

Even so, analysts say the possibility that Iran has captured the pilot could create a serious problem for Washington. It could give Tehran a major bargaining chip and complicate any attempt to reach a diplomatic settlement.

It could also weaken the White House’s argument that the US holds the upper hand.

Marina Miron, a researcher at King’s College London, said the downing of the F-15 undercuts claims by Trump and Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth that the US has full control of Iranian airspace.

“Now we have a visible example that Iran still has the capability to target and successfully shoot down US aircraft, making this, of course, very important for Iran to demonstrate the capability to resist,” Miron told Al Jazeera.

She added that the air defenses Iran is likely using, including man-portable systems, would be harder to track down.

Any attempt to rescue the pilot would also carry risk for the United States, she said, potentially leading to more escalation.

“It’s a race for time, because right now we have this critical window of up to 72 hours where both sides are trying to get hold of the pilot for both military and political purposes,” she said.