“You Know Nothing”: Tehran Fires Back at Trump’s
Iran response Trump Stone Age threat April 2026
TEHRAN — The Iranian government issued a scathing and defiant response on Thursday, April 2, 2026, following President Donald Trump’s primetime address in which he threatened to return the country to the “Stone Age.” In a statement released via the state-run IRNA news agency, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani characterized the President’s rhetoric as the “ramblings of a frustrated hegemon” and warned that the United States is dangerously underestimating Iran’s remaining military and asymmetric capabilities.
“To the man in the White House, we say: You know nothing,” Kanaani stated during a televised press briefing. “You know nothing of the depth of our defenses, you know nothing of the resolve of our people, and you clearly know nothing of the reality on the ground in the Persian Gulf.” According to reports from the Hindustan Times, the response followed Trump’s claim that the U.S. would “finish the job” within two to three weeks by targeting Iran’s power grid and remaining infrastructure.
The “Subterranean” Rebuttal
The core of Tehran’s warning centered on Trump’s claim that Iran’s missile and nuclear infrastructure had been “annihilated.” High-ranking officials within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) countered this by suggesting that the most vital components of their strategic program remain untouched in “missile cities” buried deep underground.
- Underground Assets: Sources close to the IRGC claimed that U.S. airstrikes have largely targeted “decoy facilities,” while advanced centrifuge arrays remain operational in hardened bunkers.
- The “Maritime Toll”: Tehran reiterated its “sovereign right” to manage traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, doubling down on the “maritime fees” that have effectively turned the world’s most important oil artery into a private toll road. As noted by Al Jazeera, these fees are seen by experts as a direct breach of international maritime law.
Market and Political Fallout
The President’s “vague timeline” for withdrawal has triggered significant anxiety in global markets. Shortly after the speech, Brent crude oil futures spiked 5%, surging past $106 a barrel, reversing a brief rally that had occurred earlier in the day on hopes of a ceasefire. On Wall Street, S&P 500 futures dropped 1.1%, while the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo plummeted nearly 2% as the Asian trading day opened.
As CBS News reported in its live updates, the lack of a concrete exit strategy—combined with the President’s skipped mention of NATO—has left both allies and investors “jittery.” While Trump insisted that other countries should “grab and cherish” the Strait themselves, the diplomatic vacuum left by his rhetoric has sparked fears of a permanent shift in global maritime security.
