Trump Reiterates Threat to Destroy Iran as Deadline Nears

Rebecca Lissner, Senior Fellow for US Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations & former Deputy National Security Adviser to Vice President Kamala Harris, discusses the ramifications of US foreign policy decisions as President Trump reiterates his ultimatum for Iran to agree to a ceasefire deal.

US President Donald Trump reiterated his ultimatum for Iran to agree to a ceasefire deal or face a major military escalation, as both sides kept up attacks in the sixth week of the war.

“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” Trump said in a social-media post on Tuesday. “Maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS? We will find out tonight.”

His comments came as the US and Israel maintained their bombardment of Iran — including strikes on the oil-export hub of Kharg Island — while the Islamic Republic fired missiles across the Persian Gulf. Trump has threatened to destroy Iranian power plants, bridges and other infrastructure if there’s no deal by 8 p.m. Eastern Time.

Speaking in Budapest, Vice President JD Vance said he’s confident Iran will issue a response by then.

The United Nations has warned that indiscriminate targeting of civilian infrastructure could constitute a war crime. Trump said he’s “not at all” concerned about that potential outcome.

The US leader’s latest ultimatum marks a critical juncture in the war that has killed more than 5,200 people, most of them in Iran and Lebanon, and seen energy facilities struck across the region. The president began issuing deadlines on March 21 to force Iran to reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz and has repeatedly extended the timeline, but said Monday it’s “highly unlikely” he’ll do so again.

Freedom of navigation through Hormuz must be part of any deal, Trump said. President Donald Trump threatened Iran with civilizational destruction as the US attacked military targets on the country’s key oil export hub, ramping up pressure on Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by his Tuesday deadline or face strikes on critical infrastructure.

Iran halted participation in ceasefire talks in response to Trump’s social media post, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations. Those discussions have been conducted through third-party channels. Mediators were scrambling to resuscitate negotiations ahead of the deadline, the person said.

A senior White House official downplayed Iran’s maneuver and said that legitimate negotiations continue to take place.

The lead-up to Trump’s Tuesday 8 p.m. deadline has been marked by military escalation and increasingly bellicose threats from the US president. Earlier in the day, American forces struck sites on Kharg Island similar to those that were hit in a round of attacks last month, but didn’t target energy infrastructure, according to US officials.

“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” Trump posted on social media. “Maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS? We will find out tonight.”

That threat raised the specter of a massive new bombing campaign far exceeding anything the US and Israel have carried out over the course of a campaign that began Feb. 28.

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