WASHINGTON.- Hours before the deadline for the ultimatum he gave to the Iranian regime to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the American president, donald trump, launched a strong threat when warning that “an entire civilization will die tonight”in reference to the attacks that the United States could carry out to Iranian energy and civil infrastructure in the event of a no-deal.
However, the White House denied that it is considering the use of nuclear weapons in Iran.
“Tonight an entire civilization will die, never to return. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.”wrote the Republican leader in his Truth Social account, at a time when the war in the middle east goes through a crucial day.
Trump’s message marks an escalation in his aggressive rhetoric towards Tehran, after 39 days of warand seems to pave the way to carry out his threat to “destroy” the country’s infrastructure with an offensive tonight, although there are still frantic negotiations underway.
“However, now that we have a complete regime change, where different, more intelligent and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something wonderful revolutionary can happen, who knows? We will find out tonight, at one of the most important moments in the world’s long and complex history. 47 years of extortion, corruption and death will come to an end. “God bless the great people of Iran!” added the president, who set the regime’s deadline at 8 p.m. (Washington time, 9 p.m. in Argentina) this Tuesday.
In the last hours, the United States and regional mediators continued their efforts to achieve a possible 45-day ceasefire which could lead to an end to the war with Iran. However, little progress was made with Iranian negotiators, American and Pakistani officials familiar with the matter told international media.
“I hope the Iranians act sensibly. There are 12 hours left until the deadline set by the president; until then there will be many negotiations and I hope they reach a good conclusion,” said the North American vice president, J.D. Vancewho is part of the White House negotiating team along with the envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoffand the advisor Jared Kushnerson-in-law of the magnate.
Meanwhile, before Trump published his message in Truth Social, Iranian state media reported attacks against the Kharg islanda nerve center from which most of the country’s oil is exported and key to the control of the Strait of Hormuz.
They were later confirmed by American officials, cited by The Wall Street Journal. The United States attacked more than 50 targets on the islandaccording to one of them.
“The American-Zionist enemy carried out several attacks on Kharg Island, and Several explosions were heard there.“, indicated the press agency More.
Trump’s strong message comes after he warned yesterday that “The entire country could be destroyed in a single night.” Furthermore, at a press conference at the White House accompanied by military leaders, He said he was ready to attack Iran’s power plants and bridges.
“We have a plan, thanks to the power of our Armed Forces, by which every bridge in Iran would be destroyed by 12 midnight this Tuesdaya plan in which every power plant in Iran would be out of serviceburning, exploding and with no possibility of ever being used again. I mean total demolition by 12 o’clock; and this would happen in the course of four hours, if we wanted it so. “We don’t want that to happen.”threatened Trump, who maintained that there were ongoing negotiations with the regime’s authorities.
The US military is making preparations for possible attacks on energy targets in Iran, according to multiple Republican administration officials.
Under international law, military forces are only permitted to attack civilian power plants and other key infrastructure if doing so contributes to a military operation and minimizes harm to civilians.
“We are getting help from some incredible countries who want this to end because it affects them too. After 8 pm tomorrow (for today), they will be left without bridges, without power plants. They will return to the Stone Age“Trump had pointed out yesterday at the press conference.
Minutes before Trump’s threat, Iran warned this Tuesday that its response will go “beyond the region” if the United States “crosses red lines”. He also threatened to depriving American allies of oil and gas “for years”.
“Self-containment is over. Our response will be carried out without any consideration, depriving the United States and its allies of oil and gas for years,” stated the Revolutionary Guard in a statement released by local media.
“If the US Army crosses the red lines, our response will exceed the limits of the region”he added.
