US strikes Kharg Island, Trump says ‘a whole civilisation will die tonight’ as deadline nears; journalist Shelly Kittleson released after kidnapping in Iraq
Washington: The United States hit military targets on Iran’s Kharg Island, while Israel blew up bridges and railroad tracks as President Donald Trump approached a deadline for the country to strike a deal that includes reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump also made an extraordinary threat on social media that “an entire civilization will die tonight” unless the regime in Tehran cooperates; This has led to widespread anger and concern about the level of devastation that could be inflicted on Iran’s infrastructure and population.
But it left the door open to a last-minute postponement, and in a rapid turn of events on Tuesday (US time), many Westerners detained by Iran and its regional proxies were released in an apparent goodwill gesture amid ongoing negotiations.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced that two French citizens, Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, who were released after three and a half years of detention in Iran, returned to France and thanked the Omani authorities for their mediation efforts.
Kataib Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed terrorist organization in Iraq, said that it would release American journalist Shelly Kittleson, whom it kidnapped on a Baghdad street last week, on the condition that she leave Iraq immediately.
It was not immediately clear whether serious progress had been made in negotiations over the war, although U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance told an audience in Hungary that talks were ongoing and hoped Iran would “respond correctly.”
Vance and a White House official confirmed that the United States struck additional military targets on Iran’s Kharg Island, through which nearly 90 percent of Iran’s oil exports pass. They did not say how many targets were hit, but reports from US media outlets suggested it was dozens.
Israel also launched new attacks on Iranian railway tracks and bridges. In his video statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that the targets were used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to transport weapons and raw materials.
Trump stepped up his rhetoric with a provocative social media post on Tuesday morning (US time); This was about 12 hours before Iran’s announced deadline of 8pm on Tuesday (10am AEST on Wednesday) to accept its demands.
“An entire civilization will die tonight and never be brought back. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social page.
“But now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change dominated by different, smarter and less radicalized minds, maybe something revolutionary could happen [sic] Great things can happen, WHO KNOWS?
“Tonight we will learn about one of the most important moments in the world’s long and complex history. 47 years of usurpation, corruption and death will finally come to an end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!”
There were varying interpretations of Trump’s post; Most experts viewed this as a last-ditch attempt to frighten the regime into submission, and many were skeptical about whether the tactic would be successful.
Iran’s first vice president, Mohammad Reza Aref, said his people will not be afraid of the threats of the US president. “Our response to the enemy’s brutality is to stand firm and trust in the internal strength of the Iranian nation,” he said. According to Al Jazeera.
Wall StreetJournal He stated that Iran cut off direct talks with the USA after Trump’s extraordinary post, and that negotiations continue through intermediaries, citing Middle Eastern officials.
Karim Sadjadpour, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and an Iran expert, said the president’s threats to destroy Iranian civilization are a gift to the regime.
“They will alienate even the Islamic Republic’s fiercest opponents, who believe it destroyed the 2,500-year-old Iranian civilization over decades,” he said. “It is wrong for the US president to threaten the same thing.”
Richard Haass, president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, said Trump appears to have learned little about Iran because such attacks would lead not to surrender but to retaliation and misery for the region.
Trump’s political opponents and some allies reacted harshly to his latest online message. “This is an extremely sick person,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said.
“Any Republican who refuses to join us in voting against this immoral election war, whatever it is, will suffer the full consequences.”
Democratic senator Chris Coons, who sits on the Foreign Relations Committee, said it was “barbaric” and threatened to commit war crimes. “This is not how an American president should speak, let alone act.” X said.
Stanford Law School professor Tom Dannenbaum said the threat alone could amount to a violation of U.S. Department of Defense guidance banning threats of violence designed to spread terror in civilian populations.
Stock markets, which generally reacted negatively to Trump’s threats to escalate the war, fell in early trading but recouped some of those losses during the day, while the price of Brent crude oil remained stable until lunch time.
Meanwhile, at the United Nations meeting in New York, Russia and China used their veto powers to cancel a Security Council resolution aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz, which had been watered down repeatedly in the hope that the two countries would abstain.
The United Arab Emirates, which is spearheading the Bahrain initiative, said it was disappointed but would continue to step up international efforts to reopen the vital shipping transit.
Get notes directly from our foreign correspondents on events making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What’s on in the World Newsletter.
Michael Koziol is the North America correspondent for The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former Sydney editor, Sun-Herald deputy editor and a federal political correspondent in Canberra.Connect with: X or email.
