Trump to Iran: Whole civilization’ll die tonight without deal

United States President Donald Trump has threatened that “a whole civilization will die tonight” unless Iran reached a last-minute deal in the ongoing war.

Trump said this in a statement on Tuesday, April 7, 2026.

He wrote on Truth Social: “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!”

Brian Finucane, a former U.S. State Department legal advisor now with the International Crisis Group, said Trump’s remarks “could plausibly be interpreted as a threat to commit genocide” under U.S. and international law.

With only hours left before the deadline, a senior Iranian source said Tehran was maintaining its refusal to reopen the strait without U.S. concessions that so far were not forthcoming.

Trump vows to destroy Iran in 4hrs: Latest developments in Middle East war

The source added that talks on a lasting peace could begin only after the U.S. and Israel end their strikes, provide a guarantee they will not resume and offer compensation for damage.

The source told Reuters that any future settlement must leave Iran in control of the strait, imposing fees on ships that use it.

Trump has given Iran until 8 p.m. in Washington (midnight GMT and 3:30 a.m. in Tehran) to end its blockade of Gulf oil, saying he will otherwise destroy every bridge and power plant in Iran within four hours.

Iran said it would retaliate against U.S. allies in the Gulf, whose desert cities would be uninhabitable without power or water.

As the clock ticked down on Trump’s deadline, strikes on Iran intensified throughout the day, hitting railway and road bridges, an airport and a petrochemical plant. U.S. forces attacked targets on Kharg Island, home to Iran’s main oil export terminal, which Trump has openly mused about seizing.

Iran responded by declaring it would no longer hold back from hitting its Gulf neighbours’ infrastructure, and claimed to have carried out fresh strikes on a ship in the Gulf and a huge Saudi petrochemical complex.