US President Donald Trump has warned that Iran could be obliterated in a single night, triggering alarm over the prospect of nuclear catastrophe.

The US and Israel have been engaged in hostilities with Iran since February 28, when the nations conducted joint strikes on several crucial Iranian sites. Iran retaliated by attacking sites across the Middle East, throwing the region into turmoi

Trump held a press conference at the White House on Monday as concerns of an all-out Middle East crisis intensify.

Social media users questioned how an entire nation could be “taken out in one night,” raising alarm that a nuclear weapon might be deployed, reports the Mirror.

One user posted on social media platform X: “The only way to take a country out in one night is with nukes.”

The Express was unable to verify whether the deployment of nuclear warfare would have the effect of destroying an entire nation.

Trump spoke merely hours after threatening to annihilate Iran’s power plants.

He said he would unleash “hell” on the country if the deadline he imposed to re-open the Strait of Hormuz, set to expire at 8pm ET on Tuesday night (1am BST on Wednesday), was not met, subsequently adding the US would “blow up the entire country”.

“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran,” Trump said on Truth Social on Easter Sunday. “There will be nothing like it!!! Open the F**kin’ Strait, you crazy b*stards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah. President DONALD J. TRUMP.”

The Strait of Hormuz has remained a deeply divisive issue since hostilities commenced more than one month ago. Oil prices have climbed as the strait, through which approximately 20% of all globally traded oil passes, has remained closed.