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| ▲ U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference at the White House in Washington on April 6, 2026, in this photo released by the Associated Press. (Yonhap) |
(2nd LD) Trump-Iran war
(2nd LD) Trump warns 'whole civilization will die tonight'; Pakistan requests 2-week extension of Iran deal deadline
(ATTN: RECASTS paras 2-3; ADDS more info in para 8)
By Song Sang-ho
WASHINGTON, April 7 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Donald Trump warned Tuesday that a "whole civilization will die tonight," ratcheting up pressure on Iran hours ahead of his deadline for the Islamic Republic to reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz.
Trump has given Iran until 8 p.m. Tuesday to reopen the strait, a crucial oil shipping route, threatening to destroy all Iranian power plants and bridges if Tehran fails to meet the deadline. Shipping through the waterway has been seriously disrupted due to Iran's retaliatory strikes.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called for a two-week extension of Trump's deadline to allow diplomatic efforts to continue. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Trump has been made aware of the proposal, and that "a response will come."
"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 Truth Social.
He did not appear to rule out a last-minute deal with Iran, as he cast the new Iranian leadership as "where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail."
"Maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS? We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World," he said. "47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!"
Trump has doubled down on his threats to strike Iran's bridges and power plants, and bring the Middle East country back into the "Stone Ages," amid concerns that the strikes, if carried out, could amount to a breach of international law, which generally bans attacks on civilian infrastructure unless they are mobilized for military purposes.
Iranian officials called on young people to form human chains to protect power plants in response to Trump's threats to bomb energy infrastructure, according to the Associated Press.
As Trump's deadline nears, the prime minister of Pakistan, a country at the center of mediation efforts, made a request for the U.S. president to extend his deadline for Iran to agree to a peace deal.
"Diplomatic efforts for peaceful settlement of the ongoing war in the Middle East are progressing steadily, strongly and powerfully with the potential to lead to substantive results in near future," he wrote on X.
"To allow diplomacy to run its course, I earnestly request President Trump to extend the deadline for two weeks. Pakistan, in all sincerity, requests the Iranian brothers to open Strait of Hormuz for a corresponding period of two weeks as a goodwill gesture."
He also urged the warring parties to observe a ceasefire for two weeks to allow diplomacy to end the war "in the interest of long-term peace and stability in the region."
Meanwhile, the U.S. military has conducted strikes on military targets on Kharg Island, a key Iranian oil hub, Reuters reported, citing a U.S. official. The strikes did not affect oil infrastructure there, the official said.
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