Trump issues expletive-laden threat to Iran over Hormuz Strait blockage

US President Donald Trump has published an expletive-laden post on social media, in which he threatened to destroy Iran's power plants and bridges if it failed to meet his Tuesday deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to all shipping.

He repeated an earlier threat to unleash "hell" but told US media there was a "good chance" of a deal being reached with Tehran.

Iran mocked his ultimatum, dismissing it as "helpless, nervous and stupid".

Trump's new threat came after he announced that the second crew member of a US fighter jet downed over Iran had been successfully rescued in an operation deep inside hostile territory.

Following the downing of the F15 aircraft on Friday, both the pilot and the second crew member ejected - with the pilot recovered shortly afterwards.

Both the US and Iran scrambled to locate the remaining US serviceman in a mountainous region of south-western Iran.

The incident came after more than a month of war, as Iran continued to respond to US and Israeli air strikes with attacks on Gulf Arab countries allied to the US and Israel.

Iran has also halted normal transport activity through the vital Strait of Hormuz, leading to skyrocketing global oil prices and fears of higher inflation around the world.

The closure led Trump in March to announce a series of deadlines for Iran to reopen the strait, and on Sunday he took to his Truth Social platform to reaffirm this demand.

The paragraph below contains very strong language.

He said: "Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin' Strait, you crazy bastards, or you'll be living in Hell - JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah. President DONALD J. TRUMP"

He followed this up with a series of interviews with US media. He told Fox News there was a "good chance" a deal would be reached on Monday, but he was considering "blowing everything up and taking over the oil" if a deal to end the war was not reached quickly.

Later, the US president posted again - "Tuesday, 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time!" - an apparent extension of the deadline originally meant to expire on Monday, 6 April.

Gen Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi of Iran's central military command responded to Trump's threat, saying it was a "helpless, nervous, unbalanced and stupid action", adding that "the gates of hell will open" for the US leader.

Israel, for its part, has attacked civilian Iranian infrastructure sites - a petrochemical facility on Saturday was the latest - and it was waiting for US approval to strike more energy facilities next week, according to defence officials.

US-Israeli strikes also hit the Qasem Soleimani international airport in south-western Iran on Sunday.

Iran has continued to fire drones and missiles at Israel and US Gulf allies.

A residential building in the Israeli city of Haifa suffered a direct hit from a ballistic missile on Sunday. Four people were injured.

Earlier in the day, authorities in Abu Dhabi said they were battling fires at a Borouge petrochemical facility caused by falling debris from an Iranian missile.

Kuwait said strikes by Iranian drones had caused severe damage to oil and petrochemical facilities. Industrial and fuel plants were also targeted in Bahrain.