Increasingly angry US president escalates his threats to Iran as his deadline for opening Strait of Hormuz approaches.
Published On 7 Apr 2026
President Donald Trump has suggested that the United States will destroy Iranian “civilisation” if Tehran does not open the Strait of Hormuz and submit to his terms.
About 12 hours before the Tuesday night deadline he set for Iranian authorities, Trump shared a social media post threatening to irreversibly obliterate Iran.
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“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.
Iran is the heir to the millennia-old Persian civilisation, one of the most influential in human history.
For more than two weeks, the US president has been warning that he would order the destruction of Iran’s civilian infrastructure, including bridges and power stations, if his demands are not met.
His latest post on Tuesday reflected the escalating and angry rhetoric he has deployed since the US and Israel launched the war on Iran on February 28.
Legal experts said targeting civilian infrastructure is a war crime.
“It’s horrific. It’s pure evil. It’s disqualifying,” Yasmine Taeb, legislative and political director for the advocacy group MPower Change Action Fund, said of Trump’s threats.
“It’s the words of a deranged, unstable madman.”
Taeb called for a “stronger reaction” from US lawmakers and the international community against Trump’s rhetoric and policies.
The US president set 8pm in Washington, DC, (00:00 GMT) on Tuesday as the “final” deadline for Iran.
On the first day of the war, the US and Israel killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and several other top officials.
The attacks have killed more than 2,000 people and hit schools, residential buildings and medical facilities.
Despite the losses, the governing system in Tehran appears to have held together with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – a wing of the Iranian military that is designated as a “terrorist” group in the US – spearheading the war effort.
There have been no major defections or antigovernment protests in Iran since the start of the war, and Khamenei was replaced by his son Mojtaba.
Iran has retaliated with rocket and drone attacks against Israel and US assets across the entire Middle East.
Iranian forces have also targeted civilian and energy infrastructure in the Gulf region and blocked the Strait of Hormuz to most shipping, sending energy prices soaring.
Still, Trump has insisted that he achieved “regime change” in Iran and the US has “won” the war.
On Tuesday, Trump left the door open for a diplomatic resolution despite his dramatic threat, saying “maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen.”
“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!” Trump wrote.
Iranian officials have remained defiant, threatening to meet any US escalation with similar military measures in the region and beyond.
