Trump Warns Iran 'Clock Is Ticking' as Strait of Hormuz Standoff Heads Toward Tuesday Situation Room Showdown

President Donald Trump issued a stark warning to Iran on Sunday, declaring on social media that "the clock is ticking" for Tehran to accept a U.S.-brokered deal to end weeks of fighting and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, or face renewed American military action. "For Iran, the Clock is Ticking, and they better get moving, FAST, or there won't be anything left of them," Trump posted, hours before he is scheduled to convene his top national security team in the Situation Room on Tuesday to weigh military options.

The president's ultimatum came as a drone attack sparked a fire near the United Arab Emirates' Barakah nuclear power plant earlier in the weekend, underscoring how fragile the ceasefire has become in the world's most economically sensitive waterway. About a fifth of the world's oil and significant volumes of liquefied natural gas typically transit the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow channel between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. Iranian forces have effectively closed the strait to most commercial traffic since the most recent flare-up, sending insurance rates and oil benchmarks soaring.

The two sides remain far apart on terms. Washington is demanding that Tehran dismantle what is left of its nuclear program and lift its hold on the strait. Iranian negotiators are demanding compensation for damage caused by U.S. strikes, an end to a blockade of Iranian ports, and a halt to fighting on all related fronts, including in Lebanon. "We are now in a ceasefire, although it is very shaky, but we are trying to maintain it in order to give diplomacy a chance," an Iranian official said, according to wire reports.

Trump's threat builds on a string of escalating statements over the past week and an order earlier in the month to launch a U.S.-led naval operation, code-named "Project Freedom," to clear Iranian-laid mines and reopen commercial passage through the strait. Pentagon officials briefed lawmakers on Friday that two carrier strike groups and additional B-2 bombers have been repositioned within striking range of Iranian targets, and that contingency strike packages have been refreshed since the last round of bombings.

The political stakes at home are also climbing. Republican senators have urged the White House to set a hard deadline, while a smaller bloc of Democrats and libertarian-leaning Republicans have warned that any wider war would require a fresh congressional authorization. Tuesday's Situation Room meeting is expected to include Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, with options ranging from a narrow set of strikes on Iranian missile and naval sites to a broader campaign designed to dismantle remaining centrifuge capacity. Trump told reporters Sunday that he expected to make a decision "very, very quickly."