All eyes on Trump's White House address as ultimatum to Iran nears end

US President Donald Trump is scheduled to speak at the White House at 1 pm Eastern Time on Monday (10:30 pm in India). The US president took to social network Truth Social -- owned by one of his own companies -- to remind the media about the end of a final 48-hour deadline he gave to Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz or face consequences. The development comes at a time when a 10-day pause in planned US strikes against Iranian power infrastructure is nearing its end. The deadline -- originally set at 8 pm ET on April 6 -- now appears to be extended by one day until 8 pm on April 7, according to another post by the US president.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote on microblogging site X (formerly Twitter) that the news conference will now take place at 1 pm ET in the White House's briefing room. Earlier, the press conference was scheduled to take place from the Oval Office. This means that the event will be held in a larger hall now.

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On Sunday, Trump appeared to extend by 24 hours his deadline for Iran to make a deal to reopen the strait.

"Tuesday, 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time!" he wrote on Truth Social, without elaborating.

In a separate post the previous day, he had warned Tehran that “all hell will rain down” if it did not comply.

Earlier, Trump had given Iran 10 days to give up control of the Strait of Hormuz -- a crucial maritime region that connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea, and normally enables the passage of 20 per cent of the world's oil and gas supplies.

That deadline is set to expire at 8 pm ET later in the day.

US military rescues 'seriously wounded and really brave' F15 pilot: Trump

Separately, Trump claimed that the US rescued a seriously wounded F-15 crew member from Iranian soil following an operation deep in the country's mountainous provinces.

Earlier, foreign media reports had said that a US F15 was shot down over Iran and search-and-rescue efforts were on -- marking the first such known incident of its kind in the ‌war now in its sixth week.

It could not be immediately ascertained whether Trump's post mentioned the same pilot.

Trump describeD the rescued officer as a highly respected Colonel, stating that such rescue raids are rare due to high risk to personnel and equipment. He also said that a second rescue operation was also held in broad daylight.

The POTUS praised the operation as an “amazing show of bravery and talent”.

"The Iranian Military was looking hard, in big numbers, and getting close. He is a highly respected Colonel. This type of raid is seldom attempted because of the danger to 'man and equipment'. It just doesn’t happen! The second raid came after the first one, where we rescued the pilot in broad daylight, also unusual, spending seven hours over Iran. An AMAZING show of bravery and talent by all!" he wrote.

"God Bless our great MILITARY WARRIORS!" he wrote.

Last week, Iran claimed to have hit around five US aircraft, including F-15 and A-10 jets, along with multiple drones, stating that it had deployed a new air defence system. Those remarks challenged America's claims that Iran’s defences were destroyed.

Strait of Hormuz | What makes it crucial to Middle East and to the world

Since the onset of the conflict, many of the POTUS's claims about the Strait of Hormuz have been disputed by the Iranian side, fuelling concerns about the impact of prolonged escalation in the region on global energy markets.

Last week, Trump threatened to launch "extremely hard" attacks against Iran, stating that the US would hit the country "over the next 2-3 weeks" in strikes that would send "them back to the Stone Ages where they belong".

The American president hinted at further escalations if Iran did not agree to Washington's terms. Earlier, he had promised not to target Iran's power infrastructure until April 6.

Many financial experts globally have factored in mismatches between Trump's statements and his administration's actual action over the past year, a period that also saw his administration initiate a global trade war until the US Supreme Court struck down the levies as illegal this year.

Tehran has responded to Trump's deadlines with defiance, insisting control remains with them.

How India is tackling Middle East disruptions

India has ramped up its domestic crude oil output and diversified imports to meet its petroleum product needs since the onset of the Middle East conflict.

Officials have repeatedly assured citizens of no shortages while prioritising cooking gas supplies to households and essential services. Read more

U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday (April 5, 2026) appeared to extend by 24 hours his deadline for Iran to make a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face devastating infrastructure attacks.

"Tuesday, 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time!" he simply said on his Truth Social platform.

The new deadline, 0000 GMT Wednesday, would mean another day for Tehran to attempt to placate the mercurial U.S. leader or risk him following through on a threat to destroy the country's power plants and bridges.