Nightline: War with Iran War with Iran: Day 38
Apr 7, 2026
Martha Raddatz, ABC News Chief Global Affairs Correspondent with deep experience in U.S. military reporting. She lays out the high-stakes presidential ultimatum on Iran. She narrates the daring search and complex 150-aircraft rescue to extract a downed F-15 pilot. Short, tense accounts of evasion, CIA tracking, and risky extractions keep the pace urgent.
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President Ultimatum Tied To Infrastructure Strikes
- President Trump issued an ultimatum demanding Iran open the Strait of Hormuz and accept a deal by 8 p.m. Eastern the next day.
- He threatened to 'decimate' every bridge and put every power plant 'out of business,' framing infrastructure attacks as leverage for forcing compliance.
Civilian Infrastructure Framing As Regime Pressure
- The president openly suggested bombing civilian infrastructure and dismissed concerns about possible war crimes.
- He argued Iranians would accept suffering if it led to freedom, positioning civilian harm as a tool to topple the regime.
War With Iran Causing Immediate Economic Pain
- The conflict's economic fallout reached U.S. consumers with higher gas prices and rising crude oil, affecting airlines and retailers through added fees and surcharges.
- Nightline tied the war to a $1.17 per gallon jump and near-$113 crude, showing immediate domestic economic effects.