'Iranians must act tonight or we will...': JD Vance repeats Trump's Hormuz ultimatum to Iran

US Vice President JD Vance reiterated President Donald Trump's ultimatum to Iran on Tuesday, warning that the US is prepared to take drastic action if Tehran does not comply with a critical deadline by 8:00 PM Eastern Time (Wednesday, 5:30 AM IST).

Must read: 'A whole civilisation will die tonight': Trump's chilling warning to Iran as deadline nears

Vance stressed that the US has the capacity to inflict far greater pain on Iran, but stressed that the current administration is negotiating aggressively to avoid such measures.

"If Iranians want to exact a certain amount of pain, the US has the ability to exact much greater pain. The President does not want to do that. I don't want to do that. That is why we are negotiating aggressively," Vance said. However, he pointed out that the situation had reached a critical juncture. "Fundamentally, the ball is in the Iranians' court now."

Vance acknowledged that Iran had not been quick in responding to previous negotiations and noted that the country's pace of communication had not improved since the war began. "Iranians were not the fastest negotiators before the war started, and they are certainly not the fastest negotiators now," he said, but assured that the US expects a response, whether positive or negative, from Iran by the evening deadline.

The Vice President expressed hope that Iran would make the "right response", as the US seeks a stable global oil supply and economic stability. "What we really want is a world where oil and gas are flowing freely, where people can afford to heat their homes, cool their homes, and transport themselves to work," Vance explained.

However, he warned that these goals would be jeopardized if Iran continued its actions. "They have got to know we've got tools in our toolkit that we have not decided to use. The President can decide to use them, and he will decide to use them if Iran does not change its course of conduct."

This evening, President Trump issued another warning in a Truth Social post, threatening to destroy key Iranian infrastructure unless Iran reopens the vital Strait of Hormuz. Trump's deadline for compliance is set for 8:00 PM Eastern Time.

"A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don't want that to happen, but it probably will," he wrote on Truth Social. "However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS? We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World. 47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!"

Meanwhile, Iran's Revolutionary Guards have announced that they will end all restraint in targeting US and regional infrastructure, vowing to strike in a way that could disrupt oil and gas resources for years.