A municipal worker gestures near a large political banner, depicting missiles being fired behind Iranian demonstrators in solidarity with the government, at Valiasr Square in Tehran on April 6, 2026. AFP
President Donald Trump warned that "a whole civilization will die" in Iran on Tuesday if the country does not heed his ultimatum to accept U.S. war demands.
"A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don't want that to happen, but it probably will," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Trump did not give details but he has already said the U.S. military could bomb Iran's bridges, power plants and other civilian infrastructure into the "stone age."
Heavy strikes erupted in Iran and across the region on April 7, as a U.S. deadline loomed for it to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, defying threats by Trump to "decimate" the country's civilian infrastructure.
The Iranian army dismissed what they called Trump's "arrogant rhetoric and baseless threats", saying they would not hinder operations against U.S. and Israeli forces more than five weeks into the war.
Trump has warned that unless Tehran allows free passage through the strategic oil chokepoint by midnight GMT on April 7, the United States will unleash what he called the "complete demolition" of Iran's critical infrastructure.
"We have a plan... where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o'clock tomorrow night, where every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding and never to be used again," Trump said, brushing aside accusations such strikes would constitute war crimes.
"I mean complete demolition by 12 o'clock, and it'll happen over a period of four hours, if we wanted to," Trump said at a press conference.
The Iranian army's Khatam Al-Anbiya central command, responding to Trump's threats, called him "delusional" and said "crushing operations of the warriors of Islam against the American and Zionist enemies" would continue.
Fighting raged across the region overnight, with Israel's military saying on April 7 it carried out a new "wave" of air strikes on what it called Iranian "terror regime infrastructure" in Tehran and other areas.
Iranian media said explosions were heard in parts of Tehran and nearby Karaj early April 7.
Israel's military urged Iranians to refrain from travelling by train until 17:30 GMT, in a message on X that appeared to signal upcoming strikes on Iran's railway network.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also posted on X that 14 million Iranians had answered state media and text message campaigns urging people to volunteer to fight.
“I too have been, am, and will remain ready to give my life for Iran,” Pezeshkian wrote.
Both Trump and Iran, meanwhile, said a proposal touted by international mediators for a 45-day ceasefire is not yet ready.
Trump had said earlier that the plan, which the U.S. media said is being mediated by Pakistan, Egypt and Türkiye, was a "significant proposal," but he later went on to say it was not good enough.
