Tensions in the Middle East reached a fever pitch on Tuesday as former U.S. President Donald Trump issued an unprecedented apocalyptic threat to Iran, warning that the country’s entire civilization could cease to exist by nightfall unless Tehran agrees to a surrender deal to end the ongoing regional conflict. The alarming warning came as the global community held its collective breath, watching closely to see if aggressive rhetoric would translate into full-scale military escalation after Trump had set a deadline for Iran to reopen the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz.
In a post to his Truth Social platform, Trump doubled down on his increasingly belligerent rhetoric toward the Islamic Republic. “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” he wrote. The former president added that Tuesday would stand as one of the most consequential moments in modern world history, leaving global leaders and populations on edge over the prospect of catastrophic regional war.
Parallel to Trump’s threats, multiple regional reports confirmed that Israeli forces have already launched widespread targeted strikes against Iranian infrastructure, hitting civilian and key transport sites across the country. According to Iran’s semi-official Mehr News Agency, an explosive projectile struck a residential building in the city of Shahriar, leaving at least nine people dead and 15 others injured. A separate Israeli attack targeted the Yahya Abad railway bridge in the central city of Kashan, killing two additional people. These strikes mark a significant expansion of Israeli military action within Iranian territory, deepening an already volatile conflict that began when U.S. and Israeli forces launched a joint assault on Iran in late February.
Trump’s posture toward Iran has grown increasingly erratic over the past seven days, with the former president swinging wildly between vague hints that a negotiated settlement was within reach and extreme threats of total destruction. Just days prior on Sunday, he released a profanity-laced tirade on Truth Social, calling Iranian leaders “crazy bastards” and demanding they immediately reopen the “fuckin’ strait” of Hormuz or face “hell.”
The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway that carries roughly 20% of the world’s daily oil supplies and serves as a critical chokepoint for global energy trade, was closed shortly after the U.S.-Israeli assault on Iran began in late February. Its closure has already sent shockwaves through international energy markets, disrupting supply chains and driving up crude prices worldwide. On Tuesday alone, following unconfirmed reports of strikes on Kharg Island—Iran’s primary oil export hub in the Persian Gulf—U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude prices jumped by more than 2%, exacerbating already widespread market volatility.
In response to the escalating threats, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) issued a stark warning of its own Tuesday, carried live on Iranian state television. The paramilitary force made clear that any further crossing of Tehran’s “red lines” by Washington would trigger a retaliatory response that extends far beyond the Middle East region. “If the American terrorist army crosses the red lines, our response will go beyond the region,” the statement read. The IRGC added that it would target regional energy infrastructure in order to cut off U.S. and allied access to Middle Eastern oil and gas for years, and noted that Iran’s previous self-imposed limits on retaliation have been lifted, with no more restraint remaining. The warning also extended to regional partners of the United States and Israel.
Despite the escalating violence, there have been small signs of diplomatic movement in recent days. Tehran announced last Thursday that it is working alongside Oman to draft a peacetime protocol to oversee maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which would go into effect only after the conflict with the U.S. and Israel comes to an end. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi confirmed the plan to Russian state media, according to Iran’s official IRNA news agency. Last week, an Iranian parliamentary committee also approved measures to impose shipping tolls on all vessels transiting the strait, and implement a full ban on U.S. and Israeli-flagged ships from entering the waterway.
This report is compiled from independent on-the-ground and open-source reporting on the fast-developing regional crisis.