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US, Israel war on Iran
ChinaDiplomacy

Donald Trump heightens Iran threats, warning ‘a whole civilisation will die tonight’

Ahead of ‘complete demolition’ deadline, two sides face trust deficit and see no acceptable guarantor between them, analysts say

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US President Donald Trump, alongside Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, speaks about the conflict in Iran at the White House in Washington on Sunday. Photo: AFP
Alyssa Chen

As US President Donald Trump issued further threats pressuring Iran into striking a peace deal, the two sides stood far apart amid a trust deficit, a guarantor vacuum and Israel’s role, analysts said.

Trump extended the deadline for a deal calling on Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz until Tuesday 8pm Washington time – his third time doing so since the war began on February 28.

Trump escalated the threats on Tuesday, saying: “A whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” he posted on social media.

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The previous day he said Iran faced the “complete demolition” of its power plants and bridges if no deal was reached.
As the deadline approached, Reza Amiri Moghadam, Iran’s ambassador to Pakistan, which has sought to broker a truce between the warring sides, said in a social media post that Islamabad’s “positive and productive endeavours” in goodwill and good offices to stop the war were “approaching a critical, sensitive stage”.
Motorists ride scooters near a large political billboard depicting missiles being fired behind Iranian demonstrators in solidarity with the government at Valiasr Square in Tehran on Sunday. Photo: AFP
Motorists ride scooters near a large political billboard depicting missiles being fired behind Iranian demonstrators in solidarity with the government at Valiasr Square in Tehran on Sunday. Photo: AFP

Hours ahead of the deadline, the US carried out dozens of strikes against military targets on Iran’s Kharg Island, a senior US official told Fox News. There has been no report that the US has deployed troops onto the island.

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