Trump warns ‘a whole civilization will die tonight’ if Iran doesn’t meet deal deadline

In a Truth Social statement posted the morning of April 7, President Donald Trump warned Iran that "a whole civilization will die tonight" if the regime fails to meet his 8 p.m. ET deadline for a deal.

“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” Trump wrote. “I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will. However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS?”

He added that the night of April 7 could be “one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World,” claiming that “47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end.” He ended the post by invoking God, as he has done in most of his recent statements pertaining to the war: “God Bless the Great People of Iran!”

Vice President JD Vance, speaking at an April 7 news conference in Budapest, said that he hopes the Iranians “make the right response” and threatened that the U.S. has “tools in our toolkit that we so far haven’t decided to use.”

“The President of the United States can decide to use them, and he will decide to use them if the Iranians don't change their course of conduct,” Vance said.

Trump has said in recent days that the U.S. will strike every bridge and power plant in Iran, as well as the country’s desalination facilities – targets that include civilian infrastructure. He set the April 7 deadline two days earlier and said the following day that the U.S. was prepared to carry out a four-hour operation that would culminate in the destruction of Iran’s bridges and power plants by midnight. He also told reporters on April 6 that the “entire country could be taken out” the next day.

As Zeale News previously reported, Trump’s statements have prompted questions from reporters about whether targeting civilian infrastructure such as bridges and power plants could constitute a war crime under international humanitarian law, which generally prohibits direct attacks on civilian objects unless they are being used for military purposes.

Several Church leaders, including Pope Leo XIV, have repeatedly called for de-escalation, diplomacy, and restraint since the war began Feb. 28.

Speaking to journalists at the Castel Sant’Angelo in Rome on April 1, Pope Leo urged Trump to look for a way “to decrease the amount of violence, of bombing, which would be a significant contribution to removing the hatred that’s being created and that's increasing constantly in the Middle East and elsewhere.”

“I appeal to all leaders: Come back to the table, to dialogue,” the Holy Father added. “Let’s look for solutions to problems, let's look for ways to reduce the amount of violence that we're promoting, that peace – especially at Easter – might reign in our hearts."

Echoing that appeal, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops President Archbishop Paul Coakley said in an April 1 statement that the faithful should “pray ardently for mutually respectful and effective dialogue that leads to a cease-fire and a negotiated end to the conflict with Iran.” 

The archbishop warned that the “longer the conflict with Iran continues, including the risk of deploying ground troops to the region, the greater risk of a dramatic escalation risking an ever-greater regional conflict.” 

“Pope Leo XIV made clear: ‘Brothers and sisters, this is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war,’” Archbishop Coakley said.

Archbishop Timothy Broglio, head of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, also said in an interview taped April 2 that the U.S. military action in Iran does not appear justified under Catholic teachings on what constitutes a just war. As Zeale News previously reported, he explained that “while there was a threat with nuclear arms,” the war is “compensating for a threat before the threat is actually realized.”

“I would line myself up with Pope Leo, who has been urging for negotiation,” Archbishop Broglio said. “I realize also that you could say, well, with whom are you going to negotiate? And that, that is a problem. But in the meantime, lives are being lost, both there and also among our troops. So it is a concern.” Archbishop Broglio oversees all of the Catholic priests who serve as chaplains in the U.S. military.