Donald Trump says a “whole civilisation will die” if the US and Iran do not reach a deal in the coming hours — another escalation in the threat to harm Iran’s population if its rulers do not comply.
But Pakistan, which has been a key player in negotiations between the two nations, has urged the US president to delay his deadline by a fortnight, providing a possible pathway to de-escalation.
The US and Israel have both been promising a devastating bombardment of Iran’s power plants, bridges and other civilian infrastructure — a move widely seen as a violation of international law — if no deal is made by 10am AEST.
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In a post on Truth Social, published 12 hours before the deadline, the US president wrote:
A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will. However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS? We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World. 47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!
Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, later used X to “earnestly request President Trump to extend the deadline for two weeks”:
“… Pakistan, in all sincerity, requests the Iranian brothers to open Strait of Hormuz for a corresponding period of two weeks as a goodwill gesture. We also urge all warring parties to observe a ceasefire everywhere for two weeks to allow diplomacy to achieve conclusive termination of war.”
In an emailed statement, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told the ABC: “The President has been made aware of the proposal, and a response will come.”
Strikes on Iran had been intensifying in the lead-up to the US president’s deadline for a deal, which he has said must include the reopening of the strait.
Railway and road bridges, an airport and a petrochemical plant are reportedly among the targets hit. Israel said it had struck eight bridges. US forces also carried out strikes on Kharg Island, the hub for 90 per cent of Iran’s oil exports.
Iran has responded to the US threats by withdrawing from talks to halt the fighting, The New York Times reported, citing multiple Iranian officials. Axios, citing US and Israeli officials, reported progress had been made in negotiations in the past 24 hours but reaching a deal by the deadline was still unlikely.
Iran had previously rejected a 45-day ceasefire deal proposed in talks led by Pakistani mediators. On Monday, Mr Trump said a counter-proposal was “not good enough”.
A synagogue was among sites hit in Tehran. (Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters)
Iran’s state-controlled media has broadcast images of people lining up across bridges and around power plants in the country. Iranian officials had urged young people to form human chains around the infrastructure Mr Trump had threatened to bomb.
MAGA pushback
On Monday, Mr Trump argued his attacks would ultimately help the population. “They want us to keep bombing,” he told a press conference.
But his rhetoric prompted some of his political allies to push back, including Republican senator Ron Johnson, who said it would be a “huge mistake” if Mr Trump followed through on his threats.
“He loses me if he attacks civilian targets,” Senator Johnson told The Wall Street Journal. “Whatever we do has to be within the laws of warfare.”
Conservative podcaster Tucker Carlson, who campaigned for Mr Trump’s election, urged the president’s staff and the military not to carry out his orders: “If you work in the White House or in the US military, now is the time to say, ‘No. Absolutely not,’ and say it directly to the president.”
Mr Trump responded by telling The New York Post: “Tucker’s a low IQ person.”
Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, the former Trump ally who fell out with the president and quit Congress, posted on X: “25TH AMENDMENT” — a reference to the section of the US Constitution that could see a president stripped of power.
“Not a single bomb has dropped on America,” Ms Greene wrote. “We cannot kill an entire civilization. This is evil and madness.”
‘Threat of genocide’
The UN high commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, urged the international community to take urgent steps towards de-escalation to protect civilians.
“I deplore the tirade of incendiary rhetoric being used in the Middle East war over the last couple of weeks by all parties, including the latest threats to annihilate a whole civilisation and to target civilian infrastructure,” he said.
“This is sickening. Carrying through on such threats amounts to the most serious international crimes.”
What went unsaid in Trump’s national address
UN secretary-general António Guterres had warned the US that attacking civilian infrastructure was banned under international law, his office said.
Democrats have called Mr Trump’s mental state into question. The party’s Senate leader, Chuck Schumer, called him an “extremely sick person”.
Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Mr Trump’s post was a “threat of genocide and merits removal from office”.
“The president’s mental faculties are collapsing and cannot be trusted,” she said.
Mr Trump’s comments “could plausibly be interpreted as a threat to commit genocide”, said Brian Finucane, a former attorney-adviser at the US State Department who is now with the International Crisis Group.
At the UN Security Council, Bahrain and other Gulf states proposed a resolution encouraging countries to coordinate “defensive” efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Russia and China vetoed the resolution, even after its wording was watered down so it no longer authorised military action.
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