President Donald Trump issued a major ultimatum to Iran, threatening that “a whole civilization will die tonight” in a social media post Tuesday morning and gave Iran an ultimatum to end the Strait of Hormuz blockade by 8 p.m. Eastern time. This is the latest deadline the president has put forward to Iranian officials to reopen the vital waterway amidst the ongoing U.S.-Israel war against the country.
Iranian officials reacted Tuesday with seemingly little concern: “The rude and arrogant rhetoric and baseless threats of the delusional US president will not make up for America’s disgrace and defeat in the West Asia region,” a military spokesperson for Iran said.
The ramped up threats are intended to force a ceasefire, but the efforts may have backfired. According to three senior Iranian officials, the country has pulled out of ceasefire talks, telling Pakistan it would stop negotiations with the U.S.
Trump has been threatening severe action for many days leading up Tuesday. Sunday morning Trump made a social media post stating that Tuesday would be “power plant day and bridge day,” implying that the U.S. military would attack civilian infrastructure, which is considered a war crime. The U.S. has already targeted some bridges and civilian infrastructure, such as universities.
In his post, Trump added, “Open the F**kin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell.” Later Sunday he made another post that just said “Tuesday, 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time.”
He continued making threats Monday at a White House press conference. “The entire country can be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night,” he said. His Tuesday post re-emphasized the deadline. “We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World.”
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The U.S. struck Iran’s Kharg Island, an key oil hub in the region, for the second time Tuesday. A military official told AP that the strike did not directly target oil infrastructure, but hit targets previously struck.
Israel began attacks on various bridges Tuesday morning. They warned civilians to avoid taking trains Tuesday morning, though it is unclear if the Farsi-language social media posts effectively reached Iranian citizens. Officials announced they struck eight bridges across Iran’s northwestern region and targeted a railway bridge in central Iran earlier Tuesday. According to Iranian officials, the first railway bridge strike killed at least three people. As of April 5, the war has killed more than 3,500 people in Iran, 1,600 that were civilians and 244 children, while Israel’s invasion of Lebanon has killed nearly 1,500 people, 124 that were children. In Israel, 19 civilians have been killed and 13 U.S. service members have been killed across the Middle East.
Iranian state and local media reportedly show protesters forming human chains outside of power plants and bridges as a response to Trump’s threats. Iranian official Alireza Rahimi called on “all young people, athletes, artists, students and university students and their professors” to form human chains around power plants in a video. Protesters in front of a power plant in Kermanshah carried a banner stating, “Attacks to electricity infrastructure is considered a war crime.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., reacted to Trump in a press conference Tuesday: “Congress must immediately vote to end Donald Trump’s reckless war of choice and stop him from getting us into World War III.”
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