Over the weekend, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, set a new deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and agree to an end to the war: 9pm, Brasília time, this Tuesday (7). If there is no agreement, he warned that the country will live through “hell”.
On Tuesday morning, he also threatened that “an entire civilization will die tonight, never to be resurrected.”
Now, authorities are assessing what could happen if there isn’t – noting that the American president has already given several predictions for the end of the war.
See below the timeline of threats that Trump has made to Iran since he set the first deadline for the end of the conflict.
March 21st – 1st 48-hour ultimatum
Donald Trump’s first threat was on March 21, when he said the US would “attack and obliterate” Iranian power plants if the country did not reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours.
The following day, Iran’s representative at the UN maritime agency stated that he owed it to everyone except Iran’s “enemies.”
March 23rd – Deadline extended by 5 days
On March 23, just before Trump’s first deadline expired, the president said the U.S. and Iran had held “productive conversations” and that he would suspend attacks on energy facilities for five days.
March 26th – Deadline extended by 10 days
On March 26, Trump added ten more days to the deadline, claiming that Iran had asked for more time, setting his new deadline for yesterday, April 6.
March 30 – New ultimatum if agreement is not reached
On March 30, Donald Trump said the United States would end the war by “exploding and completely obliterating” power plants and oil wells in Iran if the country did not.
A day later, on April 1, he stated that Iran had asked the US for a ceasefire, adding that he would only consider this possibility after Iran reopened the Strait of Hormuz.
Thus, Trump said the US would continue to “annihilate Iran” until the sea passage was reopened.
An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman denied the claim that the country had called for a ceasefire.
April 4th – 2nd 48 hour ultimatum
On April 4, Trump told Iran’s leaders that time was running out to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
“Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN THE STRAIT OF ORMUZZ? Time is running out – 48 hours before all hell breaks loose,” the president wrote on social media.
April 5th – Deadline extended until April 7th at 9pm Brasília time
The next day, on April 5, Trump threatened Iran again, this time with insults: “Open the f***ing strait, you crazy bastards, or you will live in hell – WAIT!”
He also stated that “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day and Bridge Day all together in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!!”
On the same day, he made a post in Truth Social: “Tuesday, 8pm ET” — 9pm Brasilia time.
April 6 — Even “worse” options against Iran
On April 6, Trump said he had even “worse” options than previous threats to bomb Iran’s power plants and bridges if the country doesn’t make a deal.
He also stated that “the entire country could be defeated in one night, and that night could be tomorrow night.”
April 7 — “An entire civilization will die”
This Tuesday (7), the day of the “definitive deadline” for Iran, Trump reinforced the threat against the country, warning that “an entire civilization will die tonight, never to be resurrected.”
“An entire civilization will die tonight, never to be resurrected again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will. […] We will find out tonight, at one of the most important moments in the world’s long and complex history. 47 years of extortion, corruption and death will finally come to an end. God bless the great people of Iran!” he wrote on Truth Social.
*Betsy Klein, Kit Maher, Alejandra Jaramillo, Kevin Liptak, Samantha Waldenberg, Aileen Graef, Sophie Tanno, Adam Pourahmadi, Julia Benbrook and Riane Loomer, da CNN, contributed to this report
