Iran calls for citizens to form 'human chains' at bridges and power plants after Trump thr

President Donald Trump warned that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again” on Tuesday as his deadline for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz approached, escalating rhetoric ahead of potential U.S. strikes.

In the same message, Trump suggested the moment could mark a turning point, calling it “one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the world” and predicting that “47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end.”

The U.S. again struck the Iranian oil hub of Kharg Island, a White House official who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity told The Associated Press.

The U.S. hit military targets on the island, the official said Tuesday. The strikes came just hours before the cutoff for Iran to capitulate or face a broader attack.

Earlier Tuesday, Iran’s semiofficial Mehr news agency reported several explosions on Kharg Island without providing details.

Trump has threatened to deploy ground troops to seize critical oil infrastructure on the island.

The U.S. executed what it described as a "large-scale precision strike on Kharg Island" in March, destroying naval mine storage facilities, missile storage bunkers, and multiple other military sites, according to U.S. Central Command. "U.S. forces successfully struck more than 90 Iranian military targets on Kharg Island, while preserving the oil infrastructure," CENTCOM said.

Trump has repeatedly shifted his initial March 23 deadline over the past six weeks of the war, and it remains unclear whether he will extend it again.

In a series of posts on Truth Social over the weekend, Trump escalated his rhetoric as the timeline narrowed.

“Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT," Trump said Saturday. "Time is running out - 48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them.”

By Sunday, he pushed it back again in an expletive-filled post.

“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the F*****in’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell,” Trump wrote, later specifying 8 p.m. Tuesday as the deadline.

During a news conference at the White House on Monday, the president doubled down on that timeline.

“The entire country can be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night,” Trump said. “We have a plan, because of the power of our military, where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o’clock tomorrow night.”

Asked whether he was winding down the conflict or escalating it, Trump told reporters, “I don’t know. It depends what they do.”

Trump said he extended the deadline by a day rather than letting it expire immediately after Easter.

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