Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: As US President Donald Trump’s “48-hour” deadline to Iran—to either reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face annihilation—loomed closer, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday declared that 14 million Iranians have signed up to sacrifice their lives to defend the nation, the media reported.
On Tuesday, Trump wrote Truth Social: “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.” His warning to Iran came just hours before the 48-hour deadline he had set. Simultaneously, reports of several attacks began to come in from Iran.
As the countdown continued, with the US asking Iran to come to the negotiating table to face extinction, Pezeshkian vowed that Iranians are ready to sacrifice their lives to defend the country.
In a post on X, he said that he, too, stands ready to be sacrificed for the country.
“Over 14 million proud Iranians have, up to this moment, declared their readiness to sacrifice their lives in defense of Iran. I too have been, am, and will be a sacrificer for Iran,” he declared.
Earlier, Iran’s Deputy Sports Minister, Alireza Rahimi, called on the nation’s athletes and artists to form “human chains” around power plants, a symbolic and physical attempt to deter potential airstrikes following a series of specific ultimatums from Trump.
In a video message, he invited all youth, athletes, artists, students and faculty on Tuesday at 2 PM (local Iran time) to gather near power plants. “These are our wealth and belongings,” he said in the message.
The call for human shields comes in response to President Trump’s recent “8:00 PM deadline” (Washington time, Tuesday night) for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. He warned that failure to comply will result in a simultaneous, massive bombing campaign aimed at “each and every one” of Iran’s electric generating plants and bridges.
Trump stated on Monday that the goal would be to leave these facilities “burning, exploding, and never to be used again” within a four-hour window.
During a White House press briefing, Trump said, “The entire country could be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night.”
He also gave an ultimatum to Iran to make a deal before Tuesday, 8:00 PM ET, warning that there’ll be “no bridges, no power plants” after that.
Trump said that this is a “critical period” and Washington has given Tehran the necessary time to make a deal to put this war to an end.
“This is a critical period… They asked for an extension of seven days; I gave them 10 days… They have till tomorrow. Now we will see what happens… A lot of people are affected by this. We are giving them until tomorrow, 8 o’clock, Eastern Time. After that, they are going to have no bridges. They are going to have no power plants. Stone ages,” Trump said.
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