President Donald Trump speaks with reporters during the White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House, Monday, April 6, 2026, in Washington. JULIA DEMAREE NIKHINSON / AP
President Donald Trump warned that "a whole civilization will die" in Iran on Tuesday, April 7, if the country does not heed his ultimatum to accept US war demands. With Trump ratcheting up his strident language in recent days, Vice President JD Vance offered his own threatening assessment of what may follow, warning Tehran that US forces have tools they "so far haven't decided to use" against the Islamic republic.
Through weeks of conflict, the United States and its ally Israel have leveled Iranian military targets, killed the country's top leadership and devastated parts of the country's infrastructure. Early Tuesday he issued one of his most glaring threats of the war. "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 US military could bomb Iran's bridges, power plants and other civilian infrastructure into the "stone age." Trump has announced a deadline of midnight GMT Tuesday for Iran to end its de facto closing of the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow, strategic waterway used to transport oil and other commodities. On Monday, he said a temporary ceasefire proposal being circulated was insufficient.
