Threatened by Trump with “hell”, Iran says it will turn “the whole region into hell” itself / Service evaluation / Mediator announcement
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that there were only 48 hours left before the deadline he gave Iran to reach a deal, threatening to unleash “all hell” on the Islamic Republic if it failed. In response, Tehran said the “whole region” would become “hell” for the United States and Israel if the escalation continued.
The US leader has threatened Iran with bombing its energy infrastructure, but the ultimatum has been delayed twice – most recently on March 26 for a 10-day span, citing negotiations with Iranian officials.
“Remember when we gave Iran 10 days to make a deal or open the Strait of Hormuz. Time is running out – 48 hours before all hell breaks loose on them. Thank God!” Trump wrote Saturday in a post on Truth Social, his social media platform.
Iran's reaction: “Illusion, a quagmire in which you will sink”
A spokesman for the Islamic Republic told the country's media that the “illusion of victory” had become “a quagmire” in which the United States and Israel would “sink”.
“Remember that if the aggression expands, the whole region will turn into hell for you,” said Tehran's representative, quoted by Reuters and The Telegraph.
“The illusion of defeating the Islamic Republic of Iran has turned into a quagmire in which you will sink,” he added.
According to the assessment made by several US intelligence services, Iran is currently unwilling to engage in substantial negotiations to end the war because it has a deep distrust of the United States and Israel, which attacked the country twice last summer and on February 28, 2026, while talks on Iran's nuclear program were ongoing, The New York Times reported.
Although Trump has again publicly estimated that the war will likely continue for several weeks, the publication wrote in an analysis that indicators of success, as the president has described on various occasions, from not letting Iran have fuel to develop a nuclear weapon, to supporting the Iranian people to remove the regime and to reopening the Strait of Hormuz, remain distant goals for now.
What the mediators say
Pakistan's foreign ministry spokesman said on Saturday that Islamabad's efforts to mediate a ceasefire were “on track”.
Two regional officials told PBS that officials from Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt are working to bring the United States and Iran back to the negotiating table in Islamabad. They said mediators were working on a compromise to bridge the gap between the two sides' demands to stop the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The proposed compromise includes a cessation of hostilities to allow for a diplomatic solution, according to a regional official involved in the effort and a Gulf diplomat briefed on the matter.
Under what conditions does Iran allow the passage of ships through Hormuz
The Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas supplies passed in peacetime, was de facto closed as a result of Iran's retaliation to the war launched by the United States and Israel against it on February 28.
On Saturday, Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency cited a letter showing that Iran had authorized the passage of vessels carrying essential goods to its ports.
The letter indicates that ships heading to Iranian ports, including those currently in the Gulf of Oman, must coordinate with the authorities and follow established protocols for transiting the strait, Tasnim said, according to Agerpres.
On Saturday, Iran announced that it would allow Iraq to pass through the Strait of Hormuz without restrictions. “These restrictions only apply to enemy countries,” spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaghari said on state television, as quoted by CBS News.
