An entire civilization is going to die tonight: what is the ultimatum set by Donald Trump to Iran?

Donald Trump has given an ultimatum to Tehran to accept a ceasefire agreement. If Iran does not respond by Wednesday at 2 a.m. Paris time, the country could be “destroyed in a single night,” the Republican threatened.

The clock is ticking. After hosting an Easter egg hunt in the White House garden, Donald Trump reiterated his ultimatum against Iran on Monday, April 6th, to accept an agreement ending the war in the Middle East that has been ongoing since February 28th. “An entire civilization will die tonight,” the American president warned on Tuesday.

The Iranian regime now has until Wednesday, April 8th at 2 a.m. Paris time to respond to this apocalyptic warning. While the deadline was initially set for Monday, the American president considered during a press conference that it was not “very appropriate” to enforce it on Easter day.

In detail, the American president threatened to destroy essential Iranian infrastructure at 8 p.m. Washington time, in the absence of a ceasefire agreement and the blocking of the vital Strait of Hormuz for global oil supply. “The entire country could be destroyed in a single night,” the Republican declared on Monday. A defense official told Axios that he was “skeptical” about the possibility of another extension of this warning.

Donald Trump expressed readiness to strike Iranian energy facilities and bridges. He also stated that he was not “worried” about the risk of committing war crimes by destroying infrastructure primarily used by civilians. For the billionaire, the real “war crime” would be to let Iran acquire nuclear weapons.

Regardless, the American president will decide alone whether to launch a massive bombing operation on Iranian energy facilities or not, according to Axios. “If he sees an agreement in sight, he will probably wait. But only he will make this decision,” a senior administration official assured the American media.

Interrogated on Tuesday during a visit to Hungary, Vice President JD Vance believed that the last hours before the deadline expiration could still bring hope: “There will be a lot of negotiations before then, and I am optimistic that we will reach a good outcome.” Faced with this ultimatum, the authorities of the Islamic Republic remain indifferent. On Tuesday, the Iranian army condemned the “arrogant rhetoric,” stating via a spokesperson that such statements had “no effect” on their operations.

In a letter to the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, the Iranian ambassador to the UN, Amir Saeid Iravani, criticized the American threats. “Silence or inaction in the face of such blatant violations will seriously undermine the integrity of international law” and could have consequences that “extend beyond the region,” he underscored in Iranian official media. The Iranian ambassador to Kuwait urged Gulf states to do everything to avoid “a tragedy.” “We hope that the region’s countries will implement all their diplomatic and political means to prevent a tragedy from befalling the region,” Mohammad Toutounji told AFP.

While waiting for the countdown to end, Tehran and its surroundings were rocked by new explosions on Tuesday morning, according to Iranian media. An AFP journalist confirmed hearing a series of detonations from the north of the city. The Israeli army claimed a “wave” of strikes aimed at “damaging” infrastructure in the capital and “other regions of Iran.” They urged Iranians to refrain from train travel until 9:30 p.m., hinting at forthcoming railway strikes.

Iranian authorities also reported attacks on Tuesday against at least two bridges, railway infrastructure, and a highway. A bridge near the holy city of Qom, 150 kilometers south of Tehran, and another supporting a railway in the city of Kashan in the country’s center were hit, according to regional officials quoted by state media.

Calls to find a diplomatic solution have multiplied since early April, even though Iran and the United States rejected on Monday a mediation proposal advanced by several countries, including Pakistan. According to Axios, the mediators proposed a forty-five-day ceasefire. This was supposed to allow negotiations before reaching an agreement to stop the war.

The Iranian government news agency Irna stated that Tehran had rejected this offer, demanding “an end to conflicts in the region, a protocol for secure passage through the Strait of Hormuz,” as well as “reconstruction and the lifting of sanctions” against Iran. The New York Times clarified, citing two Iranian officials, that the Islamic Republic notably sought the guarantee of no further attacks. The end of Israeli strikes on Hezbollah in southern Lebanon could also be part of the conditions.

In return, Iran would be ready to lift the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, implementing a passage fee of $2 million per ship, shared with the Sultanate of Oman on the other side of the waterway. Iran would use these revenues to rebuild infrastructures destroyed by Israeli-American strikes, rather than demanding direct compensation. Donald Trump described this initiative as a “very important step,” but deemed it “not yet good enough to support.”