US President Donald Trump has warned that "a whole civilization will die tonight" if Iran fails to reach a deal with the United States before his self-imposed deadline expires amid a ratcheting up of air strikes on Iranian targets and a defiant response from Tehran.
"A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on April 7. "I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will."
Trump's threat follows his warnings that the United States would target Iran's power plants and bridges in remarks described by Iranian officials as threats that amount to "war crimes," though some international legal experts dispute such a claim.
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Ex-White House Adviser Sees Rising Risks As Trump's Iran Deadline LoomsIt also comes just hours after US and Israeli air strikes hit multiple locations across Iran, including infrastructure and the strategic Kharg Island.
Iranian media reported explosions across Tehran and the sound of air defense fire on April 7, with some accounts describing fighter jets flying at low altitude over the capital.
Strikes were also reported on Iran's Kharg Island, where some 90 percent of Iran's oil exports are shipped from, as well as major bridges on the Tabriz-Zanjan highway and another near the holy city of Qom.
Several media outlets including CNN, Reuters, and Fox News quoted US officials confirming the strikes on Kharg Island. The Wall Street Journal said "more than 50 military targets" were hit in the attacks.
Prior to Trump's comments on social media, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) warned in a statement just moments after the strikes were reported that it would target US and allied infrastructure across the region if the United States crossed "red lines."
The IRGC also put American partners in the Persian Gulf and beyond on notice, saying that restraint shown toward neighboring states "out of good neighborliness" was now over and that "all such considerations have been lifted" -- a signal that Gulf Arab states hosting US military assets could become direct targets.
The statement marks a shift in Iran's stated position.
While Tehran has previously struck targets in several regional countries, it had until now maintained that those states themselves were not the intended enemy -- a distinction it appears to be threatening to abandon.
Among the sites hit in downtown Tehran was a historic synagogue, according to Iranian media.
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Trump Escalates Pressure On Iran With Threat Of Major Military ActionHomayoun Sameyah, the Jewish community's representative in Iran's parliament, told state media that the building was "ancient" and "sacred," and that Torah scrolls remained buried under the rubble.
Trump had announced the deadline of 8 p.m. EST on April 7, warning the "the entire country" of Iran "could be taken out in one night."
Speaking in Budapest on April 7 after meeting Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, US Vice President JD Vance said the administration had largely achieved its military goals in the campaign and that he was "confident" Washington will get a response from Tehran before the deadline expires.
Meanwhile, Iran struck Tel Aviv, with Israeli television reporting around 10 impact sites across the city causing damage to buildings and vehicles. No injuries were recorded.
The Israeli military accused Iran of using cluster munitions -- weapons that disperse into smaller submunitions, or bomblets, in midair and are nearly impossible to intercept with conventional air defenses. The southern port city of Eilat was also targeted with cluster munitions, according to media reports.
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How Iran's Hormuz Blockade Chokes Global Trade Beyond Oil And GasIran Rejects Cease-fire Proposal
Trump’s warning at the April 6 White House press conference centers on Iran’s control of the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for global oil shipments.
Iran's response fell short of what Washington demanded.
Tehran submitted a 10-point peace proposal through Pakistani mediators, but the plan rejected a temporary cease-fire and instead called for a permanent end to hostilities. It also included conditions unlikely to be acceptable to the United States or Israel. The New York Times reported the proposal was unlikely to resolve the core issues before the deadline.
Iran's defiance was on open display.
Mahdi Mohammadi, a senior adviser to Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, posted on X that Iran had "clearly and openly won the war" and would only accept an outcome that established "a new security order in the region."
He added: "It is Trump who has around 20 hours to surrender to Iran or his allies will be sent back to the Stone Age. We will not back down!"
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Trump Escalates Pressure On Iran With Threat Of Major Military ActionThe threat to Iranian infrastructure is drawing warnings from inside the country.
Mahdi Masaeli, secretary of Iran's electricity industry syndicate, said on April 7 that attacks on power plants, transmission lines, or substations could trigger "widespread blackouts."
While Iran's grid -- with a capacity of around 100,000 megawatts against current consumption of less than half that -- has some capacity to reroute power, Masaeli warned that serious damage would be a "turning point" in the conflict.
"The problems would not double," he said. "They would grow exponentially."
Previous strikes have already disrupted key industrial sectors.
Attacks on the Mobarakeh Steel complex have affected steel output, while strikes on the Bandar Emam petrochemical facility have hit production of PVC and cable materials, with black market activity emerging as a result, Masaeli said.