Donald Trump has said he is in ‘heated negotiations’ with Iran as the two sides thrash out plans for a two-week ceasefire deal.
The President said that he has been briefed on a proposal by Pakistan, which is mediating peace talks, ahead of a US deadline set to expire at 8pm ET Tuesday.
Trump has vowed to strike Iran’s civilian infrastructure, including energy sites and bridges, unless the Strait of Hormuz is reopened.
The President refused to comment on the drafted plan, telling Fox News: ‘I can’t comment, because right now we’re in heated negotiations.’
A senior Iranian official said Tehran is positively considering Pakistan’s request for a two-week ceasefire, according to Reuters.
Any extension to the deadline would represent the fourth time that the President has shifted the goalposts since he first threatened to ‘obliterate’ Iran’s power plants on March 21.
Trump posted on Truth Social this morning: ‘A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.’
Republican lawmakers expressed concerns that striking civilian infrastructure, a war crime under the Geneva Convention, would be a grave mistake.
Trump during a press conference in the James Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on April 6
Central Command’s Adm. Brad Cooper revealed hundreds of US drones (pictured) have been striking Iran
Streaks of light illuminate the sky during an interception attempt, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, as seen from Ashkelon, Israel, April 7
Streaks of light illuminate the sky during an interception attempt, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, as seen from Ashkelon, Israel, April 7
Senator Ron Johnson, a staunch Trump ally, said: ‘I think it would be a huge mistake. I mean, he loses me if he attacks civilian targets. Whatever we do has to be within the laws of warfare.’
Johnson told the Wall Street Journal ‘we’re all hoping and praying – what we’re praying for is for the ayatollahs to capitulate.’
Democratic lawmakers have been even more forceful, calling for the invocation of the 25th Amendment, which strips the President of his powers in the event he is suffering from a medical crisis.
Even before the deadline, airstrikes hit two bridges and a train station, and the US hit military infrastructure on Kharg Island. It was the second time American forces struck the island, a key hub for Iranian oil production.
Israel’s military warned of an increased risk of inbound attacks as Trump’s deadline approached.
Blasts were heard in the Qatari capital Doha, while the UAE said its air defenses were responding to missile threats.
Bahrain’s main port said it was suspending operations early Wednesday as the deadline is set to kick in.
Iran has warned that it will take ‘immediate and proportionate’ action if Trump follows through on his threats to attack the country.
Tehran’s United Nations representative, Amir-Saeid Iravani, said Trump’s threats ‘constitute incitement to war crimes and potentially genocide.’
Facing the threat of devastating military strikes, terrified civilians told the Daily Mail they are frantically evacuating major cities and saying goodbye to loved ones.
The defiant government is meanwhile placing human shields at infrastructure sites, with chilling video showing civilians including women and children waving flags at power plants and on bridges.
One Iranian says he and his family have already stocked up on water and supplies, fearing US strikes and the regime’s response.
‘They are very stressed,’ he told the Daily Mail, ‘but at the same time, if this war ends now, it would literally be a living hell – because the government would retaliate.’
The call to gather at infrastructure sites came directly from an Iranian official, captured in an Associated Press video clip.
Iranians gathered at infrastructure sites including bridges and power plants as they taunted Trump’s message of annihilation
Video showed women and children waving flags as chanting blared on a loudspeaker at a power plant
The US hit dozens of military targets on Kharg Island, a crucial Iranian oil export hub, overnight
US Navy fighter jets take off from USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) during Operation Epic Fury
Trump said he would target power plants and civilian bridges
Speaking in Farsi, he urged ‘youth, athletes, artists, students and professors’ to assemble at power plants the following day at 2pm local time, arguing that their presence would expose any American strike as a war crime.
Pope Leo XIV said Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s threat to destroy Iranian civilization was ‘truly unacceptable’ and said any attacks on civilian infrastructure violate international law.
In some of his strongest comments yet against the war, Leo urged Americans and other people of goodwill to contact their political leaders and congressional representatives to demand they reject war and work for peace.
‘Today, as we all know, there was this threat against all the people of Iran. This is truly unacceptable,’ he said.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said: ‘Only the President knows where things stand and what he will do.’
‘The Iranian regime has until 8pm Eastern Time to meet the moment and make a deal with the United States,’ she added.