As the self-imposed deadline of Tuesday night approaches for Iran to reach an agreement or face severe U.S. military action, President Donald Trump’s rhetoric has taken on a more alarming tone, warning that a “whole civilization will die tonight” if Iran fails to comply with his demands.<\/p>\n
On his social media platform, Trump stated, “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.”<\/p>\n
In a continuation of his unpredictable messaging, Trump also suggested that “maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen” now that the U.S. is interacting with “different, smarter, and less radicalized” leaders in Iran.<\/p>\n Trump has issued an ultimatum for Iran to negotiate a peace deal that includes the reopening of the crucial Strait of Hormuz by 8 p.m. ET, or risk bombardment of vital infrastructure such as bridges, power plants, and desalination facilities.<\/p>\n Initially, Trump threatened to target Iran’s civilian infrastructure on March 21, stating these sites would be struck within 48 hours if an agreement wasn’t reached. He subsequently extended the deadline multiple times, referring to what he characterized as successful discussions.<\/p>\n However, in recent days, he has intensified his threats. On Sunday, he told ABC News Senior Political Correspondent Rachel Scott that “we’re blowing up the entire country” if no agreement is achieved.<\/p>\n The following day, during a White House briefing, he remarked that “the entire country could be taken out in one night,” indicating that the U.S. had plans capable of reducing Iran’s power plants and bridges to ruins within four hours.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, negotiations were ongoing between the U.S. and Iran through mediators, including Pakistan.<\/p>\n A U.S. official and a source familiar with the discussions indicated that mediators were attempting to establish a 45-day ceasefire before Trump’s Tuesday deadline. However, Iran reportedly declined the mediators’ proposal on Monday, instead presenting its own extensive 10-point plan, which a U.S. official described as ambitious.<\/p>\n In the midst of fluctuating threats and diplomatic overtures, Trump was questioned on Monday about whether tensions were diminishing or escalating. “I don’t know. I can’t tell you,” he responded. “It depends what they do. This is a critical period.”<\/p>\n Reports from The New York Times and others indicated on Tuesday that Iran had informed Pakistan it would no longer participate in ceasefire negotiations. ABC News has not yet verified this report.<\/p>\n The White House addressed these developments, stating that “only the president knows where things stand.” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt remarked, “The Iranian regime has until 8 p.m. Eastern Time to meet the moment and make a deal with the United States. Only the President knows where things stand and what he will do.”<\/p>\n Tehran has promised a “regret-inducing” response if the U.S. destroys its energy infrastructure. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps informed neighboring Gulf nations that it would no longer exercise “restraint” in targeting regional locations for retaliation.<\/p>\n In a video message released via the government\u2019s Telegram channel, Iran\u2019s deputy minister of sports and youth, Alireza Rahimi, urged citizens to form human chains around the country\u2019s power plants.<\/p>\n In the U.S., Trump’s escalating threats have led to some unusual criticism from Republican figures. Senator Ron Johnson from Wisconsin expressed hope that Trump’s remarks were merely “bluster,” adding, “I do not want to see us start blowing up civilian infrastructure … We are not at war with the Iranian people. We are trying to liberate them.”<\/p>\n Experts have cautioned that attacks on civilian infrastructure could be considered war crimes and violate international law.<\/p>\n Responding to concerns, Trump stated, “I\u2019m not worried about it. You know what\u2019s a war crime? Having a nuclear weapon. Allowing a sick country with demented leadership to have a nuclear weapon, that’s a war crime.”<\/p>\n This report was contributed to by ABC News’ Somayeh Malekian, Shannon Kingston, and Justin Gomez.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As the self-imposed deadline of Tuesday night approaches for Iran to reach an agreement or face severe U.S. military action, President Donald Trump’s rhetoric has taken on a more alarming tone, warning that a “whole civilization will die tonight” if Iran fails to comply with his demands. On his social media platform, Trump stated, “A […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4592,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[704,41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-politics","category-usa"],"yoast_head":"\n