Trump says a "civilization will die tonight" as Iran deadline approaches - National & International News - TUE 7Apr2026 -

After Iran rejects his Hormuz ultimatum, Trump threatens “a whole civilization will die tonight”. Which one will it be?

Iran rejects temporary ceasefire as Trump’s newest “deadline” approaches

For the last few weeks, Pakistan has been attempting to broker a ceasefire between the US and Iran. Their latest proposal included a 45-day ceasefire to allow negotiations which could eventually lead to a permanent ceasefire. Iran almost immediately rejected these terms and the US demands. Tehran instead submitted its own list of 10 demands to end the war, chief among which was a permanent ceasefire settlement rather than a temporary pause. The Trump administration soon announced that they too had rejected Iran’s proposal.

Trump has threatened that if Iran does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz by 8pm EST Tuesday (April 7), the US will destroy all of Iran’s key infrastructure, including bridges and power plants. This is the 5th time Trump has issued this ultimatum since March 21. Iran has rejected it each time. Tehran has also says they will not hesitate to unleash more attacks on sensitive targets in nearby countries if Trump carries out his threat.

Iran has also threatened to close the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait which leads into the Red Sea and the Suez Canal beyond. Iran’s allies in Yemen, the Houthis or Ansarallah, have previously succeeded in imposing a naval blockade at Bab-el-Mandeb, but have not yet attempted to do so since the war began February 28. If both the Strait of Hormuz and Bab-el-Mandeb were closed, this would choke off approximately 25% of the world’s supply of oil.

“A whole civilization will die tonight”

Legal experts have pointed out that intentionally destroying civilian infrastructure on a mass scale as Trump has threatened to do would likely constitute a war crime. When asked yesterday, Trump said he was “not at all” worried about possibly committing war crimes, insisting the real war crime would be allowing Iran to build a nuclear weapon.

In a Truth Social post earlier today, Trump wrote, “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again”. During a news conference yesterday, Trump laid out a precise timeline for strikes to be carried out in Iran between 8pm EST and midnight tonight. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps issued a warning of its own, saying that if the US carried out its threat, Tehran’s response would reach beyond the Middle East. The IRGC statement threatened to carry out attacks that will deprive “America and its partners” of the Gulf’s oil and gas “for many years”.

Iran does not need to strike outside of the Middle East to inflict worldwide suffering. While Iran has recently hit oil depots and transport facilities in neighboring Gulf countries, they have so far refrained from striking the actual production facilities. Strikes on these facilities could indeed put them out of commission for many years, if they ever resume production at all. This would be catastrophic for the world economy, which has already taken a battering from five weeks of war.

A brief lesson from history

In 547 BC, King Croesus of Lydia consulted the Delphic oracle about his plan to attack the neighboring Persian Empire. The oracle informed Croesus that if he crossed the river separating the two kingdoms, “a great empire will fall“. Taking this as a favorable prophecy, Croesus embarked on a war against the Persians. The war proved disastrous for Croesus, and ultimately it was his own empire that was destroyed.