Reuters. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday (April 6) he will order sweeping attacks on Iranian civilian power plants and bridges on Tuesday (April 7) night unless Tehran makes a deal aimed at ending the five-week war with Iran.
Trump's vow at a White House press conference came ahead of the 8 p.m. EDT deadline on Tuesday (0000 GMT Wednesday) that he set for Iran to comply with U.S. conditions.
Trump is demanding Iran forswear nuclear weapons and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical oil transit waterway.
He said: "The entire country can be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night."
"I hope I don't have to do it," Trump said.
He said the U.S. has a plan "where every bridge in Iran will be decimated" by midnight EDT (0400 GMT) Wednesday (April 8) and "where every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding, and never to be used again."
"I mean, complete demolition - by 12 o'clock, and it'll happen over a period of four hours if we want it to. We don't want that to happen," he said.
Critics have said Trump would be committing war crimes if the U.S. attacks civilian power plants, a point Trump dismissed on Monday.
Trump also criticized NATO, Australia, Japan and South Korea for not helping the U.S. with its war with Iran.
Iran on Monday (April 6) dismissed U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats as "baseless" and said they would not deter ongoing military operations, according to Ebrahim Zolfaqari, spokesperson for the IRGC's Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters.
Zolfaghari said what he described as the U.S. president’s “rude rhetoric” and “arrogance” stemmed from a “deadlock” and were intended to justify what he called repeated U.S. military failures.
Zolfaghari said the statements would have “no effect on the continuation of offensive and crushing operations” against what he called U.S. and Israeli enemies, adding that such rhetoric would not “repair the humiliation of the United States in West Asia.”
He warned that “every action you take will add another defeat to your previous defeats,” framing the conflict as ongoing despite rising tensions.
The United Nations condemned threats and ongoing violence in the Middle East during a Monday (April 6) press briefing, addressing explicit warnings from former U.S. President Donald Trump on social media and escalating conflict between Hezbollah and Israel.
"We were alarmed by the rhetoric seen in that social media post that threatened American attacks on power plants, bridges, and other infrastructure," U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said, referencing a post on Trump's Truth Social platform in which he urged Iran to "make a deal" or face strikes on critical infrastructure.
Dujarric reiterated that attacks on civilian infrastructure violate international law, a principle emphasized by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
"The Secretary-General reaffirms that it's high time for the parties to stop this conflict, as there is no viable alternative to the peaceful settlement of international disputes," Dujarric added.
