Trump warns ‘whole civilisation will die’ in Iran if Tehran does not heed his ultimatum

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TEHRAN - US President Donald Trump warned that “a whole civilisation will die” in Iran if the country does not heed his midnight cut-off to open the Strait of Hormuz, as Tehran reported that US-Israeli attacks on its infrastructure were already under way.

Speaking in Budapest, Vice-President J.D. Vance said the US has “tools in our toolkit that we so far haven’t decided to use” against Iran, without explaining further.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned they would deprive the US and its allies of oil and gas if Washington crossed Tehran’s “red lines”.

The statements come as Iran reported that the US and Israel had begun attacking key infrastructure, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirming attacks on railways and bridges and saying they were “used by the Revolutionary Guards”.

Mr Trump had initially vowed to carry out the “complete demolition” of Iran’s critical infrastructure, particularly bridges and power plants, only if a deal was not reached.

But hours before that deadline, the Israeli military said it had already completed a broad wave of strikes targeting “infrastructure sites” across Iran.

Writing on Truth Social, Mr Trump elevated his ultimatum for Iran, stating that “a whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will”, if the country does not heed his call for a deal.

It was not initially clear exactly what he meant or by what means he intended to carry out the threat.

The Iranian authorities reported a US-Israeli attack on a bridge outside the city of Qom and a strike on a rail bridge in central Iran that killed two people.

The regional authorities also said a US-Israeli strike shut down a key highway in northern Iran connecting the city of Tabriz with Tehran.

The Mizan news agency additionally reported a strike on railway tracks in Karaj, outside Tehran.

Ahead of those strikes, university student Metanat, whose classmate was killed two weeks ago in an attack, told AFP that she was “terrified and so should everyone else in the country be”.

The 27-year-old, who declined to give her last name, said that as far as Mr Trump’s ultimatums were concerned, “some people think they are a joke”, but “death is not a joke”.

The Iranian military has previously dismissed what it called Mr Trump’s “arrogant rhetoric and baseless threats”, saying they would not hinder its operations.

Secretary Alireza Rahimi of the Supreme Council of Youth and Adolescents of Iran called on young people to form human chains around power plants across the country.

On April 7, the Israeli military told Iranians to avoid taking trains until 1730 GMT (Singapore time 1.30am, April 8), and that train travel to and from Iran’s second city of Mashhad was cancelled until further notice.

In the Gulf, the King Fahd Bridge, a major artery connecting Saudi Arabia and the island nation of Bahrain, was temporarily closed as a precaution amid fears of retaliatory strikes by Iran.

Explosions

Strikes were also reported on Kharg Island, a critical hub for the Iranian oil industry, according to Iran’s Mehr news agency, although a journalist for US publication Axios said the attack was against “military targets”.

Earlier in the day, a series of explosions was heard across Tehran, and the Iranian media reported that 18 people, including two children, were killed in strikes in Alborz province neighbouring the capital.

US-Israeli strikes also “completely destroyed” the capital’s Rafi-Nia synagogue, the local media said.

The Iranian media said explosions were heard in parts of the capital and nearby Karaj.

Overnight, attacks on Saudi Arabia hit a petrochemical complex in a sprawling industrial area in the eastern city of Jubail, a witness who requested anonymity told AFP, hours after similar installations in Iran were struck.

The Israeli military, meanwhile, said it had completed deployment of ground troops along a “defence line” in southern Lebanon, where it is fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Ceasefire proposal rejected

Both Mr Trump and Iran have said a proposal touted by international mediators for a 45-day ceasefire is not yet ready.

Mr Trump had said earlier that the plan, which is being mediated by Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey, was a “significant proposal”, but he later went on to say it was not good enough.

The Iranian state media quoted officials as saying that Tehran, too, “has rejected a ceasefire and insists on the need for a definitive end to the conflict”. Under the plan, Iran would reopen the strait and charge around US$2 million (S$2.6 million) per vessel, a fee it would share with neighbouring Oman, The New York Times reported.

On the diplomatic front, the UN Security Council is set to vote on April 7 on a watered-down resolution addressing Iran’s threats to the strait, diplomatic sources told AFP, after more robust earlier drafts were derailed by the possibility of vetoes.

Iran has effectively blocked the strait since the start of the war on Feb 28, driving up global oil and gas prices. Around one-fifth of the world’s oil normally flows through the strait. AFP