US President Donald Trump claims Iran could be “taken out” in one night as the deadline for opening the Strait of Hormuz to shipping approaches.

On Saturday, Trump offered Iran 48 hours to comply or face “hell”.

He later threatened to blow up Iran’s power plants and bridges if Tehran would not comply with his warning.

The US president stated Iran has until Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET (1 a.m. WAT) to reach an agreement.

In a news conference on Monday, Trump repeated and heightened his threats.

“The entire country could be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night,” he said.

“We have a plan, because of the power of our military, where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o’clock tomorrow night, where every power plant in Iran will be out of business – burning, exploding and never to be used again, I mean complete demolition – by 12 o’clock.

“And it’ll happen over a period of four hours if we want it to. We don’t want that to happen.”

Meanwhile, Iran has reportedly rejected a proposed 45-day ceasefire deal brokered by international mediators, insisting instead on a permanent end to the war, as tensions escalate with ongoing attacks between Iran and a US-Israel alliance and a looming deadline from Trump threatening further strikes on Iranian infrastructure.