Live updates: Follow the latest news on the Iran war
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said “a whole civilisation will die tonight”, just hours before an ultimatum deadline for Iran to make a deal was set to expire.
Mr Trump has set a deadline of 8pm ET (4am GST on Wednesday) for Iran to make a deal or else face the destruction of all of its power plants and bridges. He has claimed the Iranian people want the bombing to go ahead if it means they will be free of the hardline regime in Tehan.
“A whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” Mr Trump said on Truth Social. “Maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, who knows? We will find out tonight.”
It was the latest instance of him upping the rhetoric against Iran as the deadline clock ticks down with no sign of any concessions from Tehran. On Sunday, he issued a foul-mouthed threat that invoked Allah.
Earlier in the day, Vice President JD Vance surprised his audience during a speech in Budapest when he said the US had “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,” he said, adding that he was “confident” Washington would receive a response from Tehran before the deadline expires.
But so far, Iran has appeared unwilling to offer any concessions to the US and has responded to demands with its own list of requirements that would almost certainly be rejected by the US, such as Washington paying reparations for war damage.
Tehran has warned it will not hold back if Mr Trump proceeds with his threats, and will target its Gulf neighbours' infrastructure.
A senior Iranian source told Reuters that Tehran had rejected a proposal conveyed by intermediaries of a temporary ceasefire.
Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency said explosions were heard on Kharg Island, the country’s main oil-export hub.
Fox News said the US attacked bunkers, a radar station and ammunition storage there, alongside an unintentional hit on the island’s landing docks.
Two people were killed in a US-Israel attack on a railway bridge near the Iranian city of Kashan on Tuesday, state-run Nour News reported.
Mr Trump's latest deadline comes after several ultimatums that he backed away from. But he said on Monday that it is “highly unlikely” he would blink again. The continuing reported strikes in Iran suggest he intends on going through with his threats.
The US-Israeli war has killed more than 5,200 people, most of them in Iran and Lebanon, and energy facilities across the region have been bombed.
The UAE has been the target of more Iranian drone and missile attacks than any other Gulf country and has intercepted more than 2,500 projectiles.
