President Donald Trump threatened the death of an entire civilization in a post Tuesday morning on Truth Social, the latest violent warning to the Iranian regime ahead of an 8 p.m. deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Tuesday night could be “one of the most important moments in the world’s long and complex history.” he has written.
He wrote, “Tonight an entire civilization will die, never to be brought back again.” “I don’t want that to happen, but maybe it will. However, now that we have complete and total regime change, where different, smarter and less radical minds dominate, maybe something revolutionary wonderful could happen, who knows?”
The president’s increasingly dire warnings come as he suggested the attacks would damage bridges, desalination plants and energy targets – which could also include civilian infrastructure, which if deliberately attacked could constitute a war crime. Pentagon war planners are revising a list of energy sites that, as POLITICO previously reported, could be targeted in attacks to include sites that provide fuel for civilians and the military as a possible solution to avoiding war crime charges.
Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz – a vital waterway for the transit of 20 percent of the world’s oil – soon after the US launched attacks on the country in a joint operation with Israel in February.
The President is now betting an end to the war on the reopening of the strait. “Until then, we are sending Iran into oblivion or, as they say, back to the Stone Age!!!” he wrote on social media last week.
Trump has also criticized US allies, including NATO, for hedging his calls to help reopen the strait. But it has trained most of its threats in Tehran.
“We have a plan, because of the power of our military, where by 12 o’clock tomorrow night every bridge in Iran will be destroyed, where every power plant in Iran will shut down, burn, explode and never be used again,” Trump said on Monday.
Also on Monday, the president told reporters that talks between U.S. and Iranian negotiators were proceeding “in good faith.” Reopening the strait is a “huge priority,” he said.
Meanwhile, according to Vice President J.D. Vance and a US official who were granted anonymity to provide additional details, the US struck dozens of military targets overnight on Iran’s Kharg Island, including bunkers, radar and ammunition storage sites, while avoiding oil infrastructure.
Vance told reporters in Hungary on Tuesday that the strikes did not represent a change in strategy for the US because they were focused exclusively on military targets.
“The president’s deadline … has been followed by us and everyone else,” he said. “And they said very clearly, we are not going to attack energy and infrastructure targets until the Iranians either make an offer that we can accept or make no offer at all. But they gave them until eight o’clock on Tuesday night.”
Global oil prices are skyrocketing in the wake of the closure of the strait. Domestically, gas prices have soared ahead of the midterm elections, which could spell disaster for the GOP.
Paul McCleary and Cheyenne Haslett contributed to this report.
