U.S. President Donald Trump says he’s pulling back on his threats to widen attacks on Iran.
The president says that includes an array of bridges, power plants and other civilian targets — subject to Iran being ready for a two-week ceasefire and to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump’s latest threat over the Iran war hit a new extreme earlier Tuesday when he warned, “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” if Iran fails
to make a deal that includes reopening the vital Strait of Hormuz.
The Republican president’s earlier comments were swiftly met with condemnation from Democrats, some “Make America Great Again” supporters who have since broken with Trump, and the first American pope.
Here is the latest:
In his social media post, Trump said he decided to delay an expansion of U.S. strikes “based on conversations” with Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Gen. Asim Munir, Pakistan’s powerful army chief.
Sharif, in a post on the social platform X earlier Tuesday, urged Trump to extend his deadline by two weeks to allow diplomacy to advance. Pakistan has been leading negotiations.
Sharif used the same post to ask Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz for two weeks.
And then to retreat if a backlash ensues — a phenomenon his critics have derided as “Trump Always Chickens Out,” or TACO.
The president backed off on many of the sweeping “Liberation Day” tariffs he first announced in April 2025 after they caused the financial markets to go haywire.
He also largely dropped threats to impose high levies on many imported products from China, Mexico, the European Union and Canada — among other trade partners.
Perhaps the most spectacular example came during a January meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, where Trump insisted that he wanted the U.S. to get Greenland “including right, title and ownership,” only to switch course and abandon his threat to impose widespread tariffs on Europe to press his case.
The president added in his social media post that Iran has presented “a workable basis on which to negotiate.”
“Almost all of the various points of past contention have been agreed to between the United States and Iran, but a two-week period will allow the Agreement to be finalized and consummated,” Trump said in the post.
The president says that includes an array of bridges, power plants and other civilian targets — subject to Iran being ready for a two-week ceasefire and to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
In a post on his social media site on Tuesday evening, Trump said Iran could agree “to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz” and said that he’d then “suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks.”
Since the war began in February, Trump has set a series of deadlines threatening escalation of the conflict, only to back off just before they expire.
Iran’s joint military command spokesperson made the warning in a statement responding to U.S.-Israeli attacks.
Ebrahim Zolfaghari said Iran will intensify its attacks on military, security, and economic infrastructure in Israel and on “centers related to” the U.S. in the region.
Zolfaghari said Iran’s continued attacks on the infrastructure of the U.S. and its allies aim to deprive them of the region’s oil and gas supplies “for many years” and “force them to leave” the Middle East.
That’s according to a statement by spokeswoman Anna Kelly in response to criticism the president’s comments have received.
“As President Trump has said, Iran can never have a nuclear weapon, and the Iranian people welcome the sound of bombs because it means their oppressors are losing,” the statement says.
“The President will always stand with innocent civilians while annihilating the terrorists responsible for threatening our country and the entire world with a nuclear weapon. Greater destruction can be avoided if the regime understands the seriousness of this moment and makes a deal with the United States.”
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Qatar’s Interior Ministry said late Tuesday that falling debris hit a residence in the Muraikh area, moderately wounding four people, including a child, as the country responds to Iranian attacks.
The president who yearned for a Nobel Peace Prize and once reveled in the appearance of solving conflicts has turned to the language of annihilation as he struggles to find a resolution to his war of choice in Iran.
Donald Trump’s latest threat over the Iran war hit a new extreme Tuesday as he warned, “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” if Iran fails to make a deal that includes reopening the vital Strait of Hormuz.
His comments were swiftly met with condemnation from Democrats, some “Make America Great Again” supporters who have since broken with Trump, and the first American pope. Some fellow Republicans suggested his comments were a negotiating tactic.
Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar late Tuesday briefed his Saudi, Egyptian and Turkish counterparts on Islamabad’s efforts to promote dialogue and diplomatic engagement in pursuit of peace and stability in the region.
The Foreign Ministry says Dar and Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan discussed the regional situation, and that Dar also spoke with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.
Three times a week, Asghar Hashemi undergoes dialysis treatment at a hospital in northern Tehran. He fears that if power stations are knocked out, as Trump has threatened, his life will be in danger.
Tehran residents rushed Tuesday to stock up on bottled water and charge cellphones, flashlights and portable power banks as the hours ticked down to Trump’s latest ultimatum.
“I am worried, but I am more worried about my fellow citizens,” Hashemi said, lying on his bed at Tajrish Martyrs Hospital for treatment. “Whatever happens, we will stand until the end.”
Alaska Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski on Tuesday said President Trump’s threat “that ‘a whole civilization will die tonight’ cannot be excused away as an attempt to gain leverage in negotiations with Iran.”
She said on social media that the rhetoric is an “affront” to ideas the U.S. has long sought to uphold and promote around the world.
“It undermines our long-standing role as a global beacon of freedom and directly endangers Americans both abroad and at home,” she said.
Murkowski, a centrist who at times has been critical of Trump, called on all those involved in the conflict — including Trump and Iran’s leaders — to “de-escalate their unprecedented saber-rattling before it is too late.”
The S&P 500 fell as much as 1.2% after Trump’s threat, but stocks rallied at the end of trading after Pakistan’s prime minister urged Trump to extend his deadline for another two weeks and asked Iran to open up the Strait of Hormuz during that time.
The S&P 500 erased all its losses and ended with a modest 0.1% gain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 85 points, or 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite added 0.1%.
During just the first hour of Tuesday’s trading, the Dow careened between a gain of 74 points and a loss of 425.
Oil prices were likewise shaky. The price for a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude to be delivered in May briefly climbed above $117 before settling at $112.95, up 0.5%.
The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, eased by 0.5% to $109.27. It’s still well above its roughly $70 level from before the war began in late February.
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Jason Carter, president of the Carter Center’s governing board and former President Carter’s grandson, called Trump’s blanket threat against Iranian citizens and culture an “un-American” and “un-Christian” outrage.
“It violates every conceivable moral code,” Carter said in a video statement, and if carried out would violate U.S. and international law and all “accepted principles of human rights.”
The United States, Carter said, “must be better than Donald Trump’s unbridled and dangerous rhetoric.”
Jimmy Carter, who died in 2024, was in office during the 1979 Iranian Revolution that ushered in the ayatollah’s government.
“The Islamist government of Iran has been our enemy, including an enemy of my family,” Jason Carter said, “but the people of Iran have never been our enemy.”
The younger Carter said his grandfather would urge “Democrats, Republicans and especially Christians who worship the prince of peace to stand up and say, ‘Enough is enough.’”
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the FBI and the National Security Agency together issued the warning on Tuesday, reporting that hackers allied with Iran exploited vulnerabilities in internet-connected devices used to control machinery used in several important sectors.
They offered no details about the attacks but said they were intended to disrupt operations and cause financial harm. The bulletin urged any U.S. entity that uses the controllers to check their cyber defenses.
A number of cyberattacks targeting U.S. and Israeli entities have been attributed to pro-Iran hackers since U.S.-Israeli strikes began. Authorities say critical infrastructure like ports and water plants could be targeted by Iranian hackers or independent groups working on their behalf.
The U.S. president, threatening to destroy Iran’s energy infrastructure and bridges, said the country can’t use its citizens as human shields.
“Totally illegal,” Trump said in a phone call with NBC News. “They’re not allowed to do that.”
Trump was also asked about his reasons for saying on social media that “a whole civilization will die tonight,” and Trump answered by saying: “You’ll have to figure that out.
Trump has yet to weigh in on the request for further negotiations with Iran made over social media by Pakistan’s prime minister, but he plans to address the call to push back his deadline for attacks on Iran’s energy infrastructure and bridges by two weeks.
“The President has been made aware of the proposal, and a response will come,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in an emailed statement.
In a post on the social platform X, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said, “diplomatic efforts for peaceful settlement of the ongoing war in the Middle East are progressing steadily, strongly and powerfully with the potential to lead to substantive results in near future.”
“To allow diplomacy to run its course, I earnestly request President Trump to extend the deadline for two weeks.” he said. The White House did not immediately respond to questions about the post.
“Pakistan, in all sincerity, requests the Iranian brothers to open the Strait of Hormuz for a corresponding period of two weeks as a goodwill gesture,” he added. “We also urge all warring parties to observe a ceasefire everywhere for two weeks to allow diplomacy to achieve conclusive termination of war, in the interest of long-term peace and stability in the region.”
“We know what it means when leaders call for communities and populations to be wiped out,” Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, said in a statement. “Any suggestion that this advances Jewish or Israeli safety is simply an exploitation of our community to advance horrific war crimes and the President’s broader extreme anti-democratic agenda.”
Spitalnick’s council describes itself as a “mainstream Jewish organization.” It believes in the need for Israel to serve as a Jewish homeland, but often criticizes policies of the current Israeli government.
She urged people to recognize “multiple truths:” that Iran’s government is repressive and dangerous, and the Trump administration is increasingly flouting its constitutional and humanitarian obligations.
Americans are less confident in the president’s decision-making on Iran than they were last year, according to a new Pew Research Center poll, with drops among Republicans and Democrats.
About one-third of U.S. adults are “very” or “somewhat” confident Trump can make good decisions when it comes to U.S. policy toward Iran, according to the Pew poll conducted in late March. That’s down from 44% in August. Roughly two-thirds of Republicans have high confidence, down from 78% last year.
The poll also found about 7 in 10 Americans are “extremely” or “very” concerned about higher gas and fuel prices as a result of U.S. military action, with most Republicans and Democrats being worried. Majorities of Americans also worry about U.S. ground troops being sent into Iran, possible military casualties and potential terrorist attacks on U.S. soil.
“Today, as we all know, there was this threat against all the people of Iran. This is truly unacceptable,” Pope Leo XIV said, adding that any attacks on civilian infrastructure violate international law.
In some of his strongest comments yet against the war, Leo urged Americans and others of goodwill to contact their political leaders and congressional representatives to demand they reject war and work for peace.
The remarks to reporters Tuesday came as he left his country house in Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome, just hours before Trump’s deadline for Iran to capitulate and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “deeply troubled” by the statement suggesting that an entire people or civilization may bear “the consequences of political and military decisions,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
Guterres didn’t name Trump but was clearly referring to the American leader’s warning to Iran earlier Tuesday that a “whole civilization will die tonight” if the Strait of Hormuz isn’t opened.
“There is no military objective that justifies the wholesale destruction of a society’s infrastructure or the deliberate infliction of suffering on civilian populations,” Guterres’ spokesman said.
The secretary-general reiterates that leaders can still choose “dialogue over destruction” and the choice for talks must be made now, Dujarric said.
Guterres calls for stepped-up diplomacy to find a path to peace and appeals for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the spokesman said.
In a statement released Tuesday, a U.N. official said that “based on available evidence,” a projectile fired from an Israeli tank on March 29 resulted in the death of one Indonesian peacekeeper.
“It is recalled that, to mitigate the risk to United Nations personnel, UNIFIL had again provided the Israel Defense Forces with the coordinates of all its positions and facilities on 6 March and 22 March,” the statement read.
Additionally, the March 30 episode that resulted in the death of two other Indonesian peacekeepers came after a improvised explosive device, most likely placed by Hezbollah, was discovered nearby.
“Allow me to reiterate that these are preliminary findings, based on initial physical evidence,” the statement continued, adding the full investigation processes of the U.N. will continue.
Israel’s military said Iran had launched missiles at the country Tuesday evening, the seventh time of the day.
Sirens sent people to shelters in the southern part of the country, while earlier salvos had been centered on the major metropolis of Tel Aviv, as well as central Israel and parts of the occupied West Bank.
Northern Israeli communities continued to come under fire from Hezbollah as well.
Sundown Tuesday marks the beginning of the last day of the Passover holiday, an especially important religious occasion in the Jewish calendar.
Earlier in the day, an elderly couple and their son, who were killed in a missile attack, were buried in Haifa.
House Democratic leaders in a joint statement called President Donald Trump “completely unhinged” and asked the House to be brought back immediately into legislative session.
“His statement threatening to eradicate an entire civilization shocks the conscience and requires a decisive congressional response,” said the joint statement from Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, Democratic Whip Katherine Clark and four other top House Democrats.
“The House must come back into session immediately and vote to end this reckless war of choice in the Middle East before Donald Trump plunges our country into World War III,” the Democratic lawmakers said.
They called on House Republicans to put patriotic duty over party loyalty and “join Democrats in stopping this madness.”
Iranian envoy says Tehran will not “stand idle’ if Trump follows through on ‘war crime’ threats
Amir-Saeid Iravani, Tehran’s representative at the U.N., said that Trump’s threats earlier Tuesday that a “whole civilization will die” if Iran does not make a deal “constitute incitement to war crimes and potentially genocide.”
During a Security Council session on the Strait of Hormuz, Iravani urged the international community to call out Trump’s rhetoric before it’s too late.
“Iran will not stand idle in the face of such egregious war crimes. It will exercise, without hesitation, its inherent right of self-defense and will take immediate and proportionate reciprocal measures,” he said.
Top World Health Organization official warned about the long-term health risks caused by the continued military activity near an Iranian nuclear power plant.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO’s director general, wrote on X that more military operations near the Russian-built Bushehr power plant, where hundreds of workers were evacuated following a strike recently.
“Such actions could lead to a severe radiological accident, with serious and long-term health consequences for people now and for generations to come, while also harming the environment across Iran, the region, and beyond,” he wrote.
An engineer in a construction company who lives in Tehran says hitting infrastructure, including some power plants, has already left many people unemployed.
“Because of this, workers and employees, and people who are losing their jobs and income are becoming against the war,” they said. “There is a huge amount of fear about tonight.”
Speaking to The Associated Press through a messaging app from Tehran, the engineer said only people who are financially able are buying generators to prepare for possible power outages. Just like the internet outage ... so they are less (doomed),” they said. But the fact is, everyone is impacted, the engineer added, speaking anonymously for his own safety.
The engineer said Trump’s threats still lack any clarity.
“People don’t know what his plan is.”
Hours ahead of a deadline he imposed on Iran to capitulate, President Donald Trump boosted Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Tuesday when Vice President JD Vance dialed him into a rally in Budapest.
Trump told the crowd gathered ahead of Hungary’s weekend election that he loves their country and praised Orban.
“You have a man that kept your country strong,” Trump said.
Vance spoke at the rally for Orban in the Hungarian capital, defending Western civilization and criticizing “bureaucrats in Brussels.”
The vice president attempted to dial the president in front of the crowd and first got an automated message saying the voicemail box wasn’t set up, to laughter from attendees. Soon after, he got Trump on the phone and put him on speaker for the crowd.
In Gaza City, dozens of people had to wade through flooded streets to reach a bread distribution point on Tuesday because of war-damaged drainage systems, AP footage showed.
A $1 bag of bread — about 15 loaves — is barely enough to feed large families, residents said.
Israel’s two-year war has been muted by a fragile ceasefire since October, but many in Gaza fear the Iran war is overshadowing urgent humanitarian needs and delaying reconstruction.
Jamal Hamad, a displaced resident from northern Gaza, said shortages of small bills are compounding the crisis, leaving many unable to pay. Digital options remain out of reach.
People waited for hours in the rain, pushing to reach the front as supplies ran low. Some resold bags for up to $6.
The King Fahd Causeway, a key bridge linking Saudi Arabia to Bahrain, closed Tuesday for the second time as a precautionary measure following alerts issued by the National Early Warning Platform in the Eastern Province.
The King Fahd Causeway Authority said on X Tuesday evening vehicle traffic has been suspended.
American journalist Shelly Kittleson, who was kidnapped in Baghdad last week, has been released, an Iraqi official with direct knowledge of the situation said Tuesday.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly, said Kittleson was freed in the afternoon. He did not share her current whereabouts but said that before her release, she was being held in Baghdad.
The powerful Iran-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah said in a statement earlier Tuesday that it had decided to free the journalist, and officials with the militia told The Associated Press that members of the group previously detained by Iraqi authorities would be released in exchange.
In an Easter message released Tuesday by the Vatican, Leo suggested a parallel between Christ’s crucifixion and the suffering of south Lebanese Christians.
“In your misfortune, in the injustice you endure, in the feeling of abandonment you experience, you are very close to Jesus. You are close to Him also on this Easter Day when He conquered the forces of evil, and which resonates for you as a promise of the future,” read the message.
The message was written in French, was signed by the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and was addressed to the residents of the village of Debel.
A convoy carrying over 40 tons of aid led by the Vatican was supposed to have reached the Christian village of Debel for Easter, but was canceled for what Lebanon’s Maronite Church said were “security reasons.”
Leo visited Lebanon late last year on his first international trip as pope.
Two Republican senators warned Prime Minister Keir Starmer that altering the status of the U.S. military base on the remote Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia could harm U.S.-U.K. relations, as the base plays a key role in operations tied to the Iran war.
Sens. Ted Cruz and Tommy Tuberville urged Britain to halt a planned transfer of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, saying it would undermine U.S. national security.
Passage of the deal through the U.K. Parliament is on hold until American support can be regained.
The Trump administration initially welcomed the deal, but the president changed his mind in January, calling it “an act of GREAT STUPIDITY.”
The powerful Iran-backed Iraqi militia known as Kataib Hezbollah said in a statement Tuesday that it will release American journalist Shelly Kittleson, who was kidnapped from a Baghdad street last week.
The group said its decision came “in appreciation of the patriotic stances of the outgoing Prime Minister,” Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, without giving more details. It added that “this initiative will not be repeated in future.”
Kataib Hezbollah had not previously acknowledged that it was the group responsible for Kittleson’s abduction, although both U.S. and Iraqi officials had pointed fingers at the group.
