Iran has cut off direct communications with the US as women and children formed human shields around energy sites after Donald Trump warned that a ‘whole civilization will die tonight’.
Negotiations are continuing through mediators but the severed contact has complicated efforts to meet Trump’s 8pm ET deadline, the Wall Street Journal reported.
An official said that Iran intended to convey a message of defiance and disapproval by severing communications.
Iranian state TV is now broadcasting images of civilians protesting at bridges and power plants, in a direct taunt after Trump threatened to strike infrastructure. Video showed women and children waving flags as chanting blared on a loudspeaker.
Trump said on Truth Social: ‘A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.’
He threatened Monday to target Iran’s infrastructure, despite warnings that striking civilian energy and water supplies would constitute a war crime as it is a clear breach of the Geneva Convention.
Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and Vice President JD Vance have been deeply involved in peace talks with Iran, with Pakistan playing a central role in mediating the negotiations.
Iran is officially led by Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, appointed Supreme Leader after his father Ali Khamenei was killed in US-Israel strikes on February 28 – but he is unconscious and ‘unable to be involved in any decision-making’, a fresh intelligence memo states, raising urgent questions over who is actually running Tehran.
Women and children are forming human shields at Iranian infrastructure sites
Video showed women and children waving flags as chanting blared on a loudspeaker at a power plant
Iranians gathered at infrastructure sites including bridges and power plants as they taunted Trump’s message of annihilation
The US hit dozens of military targets on Kharg Island, a crucial Iranian oil export hub, overnight
President Donald Trump gestures as he responds to a question from the news media during a briefing on Iran from the White House on Monday
Trump said in his Truth Social post: ‘Now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS?
‘We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World. 47 years of extortion, corruption and death will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!’
The US struck approximately 50 military targets overnight on Kharg Island, Iran’s crucial oil export hub, as fears mount over a potential ground invasion to seize it.
Bunkers, a radar station and ammunition storage were hit by US airstrikes, according to senior administration officials. Footage emerged on social media showing the aftermath of the destruction on the island.
Senior Iranian officials rejected a temporary ceasefire proposal conveyed by intermediaries, Reuters reported, as the military action continued to escalate.
The Islamic regime showed no sign of agreeing to Trump’s demand to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The passageway is a critical chokepoint through which roughly 20 to 25 percent of the world’s seaborne oil passes.
The President said Iran had until the end of Tuesday to restore access to the passageway or face strikes on civilian infrastructure, including bridges and power plants, in what would mark the biggest escalation of the war so far.
Trump noted during a White House press conference on Monday that ‘very little is off limits’ from attacks if Iran did not agree to his demands, adding that ‘every power plant will be destroyed, every bridge’.
A US-AF F-35 Lightning II stealth multirole fighter jet takes off from RAF Lakenheath in England on April 7
Fears are growing over a potential ground invasion to seize Kharg Island, which is located in the Persian Gulf off the coast of Iran
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
Global oil markets have spun out of control as Trump’s deadline nears and Iran refuses to reopen the strait
Global oil markets have spun out of control as Trump’s deadline nears and Iran refuses to reopen the strait.
The conflict has triggered the biggest disruption to global energy supplies in history, the head of the International Energy Agency warned.
Gas prices in the US have skyrocketed to $4.14 per gallon on average nationwide, an increase of more than a dollar since the war began.
Trump has set multiple previous deadlines for Iran without following through, including threats to send the country back to the ‘Stone Age’.
Global markets remain largely frozen, as investors are hesitant to bet on whether Trump will actually follow through on his threats or call them off at the last minute.
After rejecting Trump’s offer, Iran threatened to retaliate against strikes to their energy supply by bombing the water supply for US allies in the region.
Gulf nations remain reliant on desalination plants because their cities are surrounded by a desert.
Iran’s UN envoy said the deadline amounted to a ‘direct incitement to terrorism and provides clear evidence of intent to commit war crimes under international law’.
US Navy fighter jets take off from USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) during Operation Epic Fury
The regime’s military command noted the President was ‘delusional’.
Vance said at a press conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest that ‘very shortly, this war will conclude’.
The Vice President added that the US has ‘largely accomplished its military objectives’.
Vance also reported that more negotiations are expected before Trump’s imminent deadline. He said: ‘I’m hopeful that it gets to a good resolution.’
A new intelligence memo states that Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is incapacitated and receiving medical treatment in Qom, a sacred Shia city 87 miles south of Tehran.
The assessment, gathered by US and Israeli intelligence and shared with Gulf allies via diplomatic memo, says Khamenei is receiving treatment for a ‘severe’ medical condition and is not capable of running the regime.