WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump warned that "a whole civilisation will die" in Iran on Tuesday if the country does not heed his ultimatum to accept US war demands. With Trump ratcheting up his strident language in recent days, Vice-President JD Vance offered his own threatening assessment of what may follow, warning Tehran that US forces have tools they "so far haven't decided to use" against the Islamic republic. Through weeks of conflict, the United States and its ally Israel have levelled Iranian military targets, killed the country's top leadership and devastated parts of the country's infrastructure.
Early on Tuesday he issued one of his most glaring threats of the war. "A whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don't want that to happen, but it probably will," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. Trump did not give details but he has already said the US military could bomb Iran's bridges, power plants and other civilian infrastructure into the "stone age."
Trump has announced a deadline of midnight GMT on Tuesday for Iran to end its de facto closing of the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow, strategic waterway used to transport oil and other commodities. On Monday, he said a temporary ceasefire proposal being circulated was insufficient.
Iran has rejected US pressure, with state media reporting authorities are insisting that instead of just a ceasefire it wants a full end to the war.
On Truth Social, Trump left the door open for a last-hour agreement. "Now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalised minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS? We will find out tonight," he wrote. Trump said that starting in Washington late on Tuesday evening, US forces would destroy "every bridge in Iran" and cripple "every power plant" in the country — something that many experts say would be a blatant war crime. The extent of Trump's saber rattling and provocative language has appalled critics. "This is an extremely sick person," top US Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer posted on X. "Each Republican who refuses to join us in voting against this wanton war of choice owns every consequence of whatever the hell this is."
Meanwhile Vance, visiting Hungary, delivered an ominous warning even as he told reporters that Washington has "largely accomplished its military objectives," and that more negotiations were expected ahead of the deadline. "They've got to know we've got tools in our toolkit that we so far haven't decided to use," Vance said. Trump "will decide to use them if the Iranians don't change their course of conduct." US and Israeli warplanes have been continuously bombing Iran since February 28, and on Tuesday Tehran said that its crucial oil export terminal on Kharg island was under attack. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel struck on Tuesday railways and bridges in Iran "used by the Revolutionary Guards", after Iranian officials reported damage to at least two bridges and railway infrastructure.
Iran said critical infrastructure, including two bridges, was struck Tuesday by the United States and Israel, with US President Donald Trump warning "a whole civilisation will die" if a midnight deadline for a deal to open the Strait of Hormuz was not met. The strikes came as Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned they would deprive the United States and its allies of oil and gas if Washington crossed Tehran's "red lines".
Iranian authorities reported a US-Israeli attack on a bridge outside the city of Qom and a strike on a rail bridge in central Iran that killed two people. Regional authorities also said that a US-Israeli strike shut down a key highway in northern Iran connecting the city of Tabriz with Tehran. The Mizan news agency additionally reported a strike on railway tracks in Karaj, outside Tehran.
Ahead of those strikes, university student Metanat, whose classmate was killed two weeks ago in an attack, said that she was "terrified and so should everyone else in the country be". The 27-year old, who declined to give her last name, said as far as Trump's ultimatums were concerned, "some people think they are a joke", but "death is not a joke". The Iranian military has previously dismissed what it called Trump's "arrogant rhetoric and baseless threats", saying they would not hinder its operations. — AFP
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