Trump calls to wipe out a ‘whole civilization’ as Iranians reject threats.

Textbooks and papers amid the rubble of a building at Sharif University in Tehran, Iran after it was targeted by U.S.-Israeli airstrikes, on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. (Arash Khamooshi/The New York Times)

By TYLER PAGER, FARNAZ FASSIHI, JULIAN E. BARNES, RONEN BERGMAN and RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA

President Donald Trump threatened on Tuesday to wipe out a “whole civilization” and the United States hit military targets on Iran’s main oil export hub, as he ramped up pressure on Iran to fully open the Strait of Hormuz or face devastating strikes on critical infrastructure within hours.

As the clock ticked down to Trump’s 8 p.m. Eastern time deadline, there were competing narratives about the state of negotiations. Three Iranian officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe sensitive diplomacy said that Iran has stopped engaging in indirect talks, mediated by Pakistan, with the Trump administration to halt the fighting.

But hours later, Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, wrote on social media that diplomatic efforts were “progressing steadily, strongly and powerfully.” An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, also said talks were making progress. And Iran left open the possibility that Pakistan could serve as a conduit if talks were to resume.

“To allow diplomacy to run its course, I earnestly request President Trump to extend the deadline for two weeks,” Sharif wrote, and for Iran to open the strait and for all parties to observe a ceasefire.

Trump is aware of Pakistan’s request and “a response will come,” the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said in a statement.

The United States launched more than 90 strikes on Kharg Island, the oil export hub, early Tuesday. A U.S. military official characterized them as “restrikes” — hitting targets that have been struck before to ensure more damage. He said that the United States was not yet targeting Iranian oil infrastructure on the island, which lies in the Persian Gulf off the country’s southern coast.

The United States and Israel both stepped up their attacks ahead of the 8 p.m. Eastern deadline Trump had set for Iran to allow unimpeded shipping through the strait, a key oil and gas transit route. He issued his grave warning on social media as U.S. forces struck Kharg as part of a broader effort to force Iran to make a deal, according to American and Israeli officials with knowledge of the operations, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” the U.S. president wrote, adding that he hoped “maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen” to avoid the attacks. “We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World.”

But there are often gaps between Trump’s hyperbolic language and reality, and military officials said they were not sure how to reconcile his apocalyptic threat with the concrete mission as they understood it, to degrade Iran’s ability to launch missiles and drones.

On Monday, the president said at a news conference that if Iran did not end its effective blockade of the strait, every bridge in the country would be “decimated,” and every power plant would be “out of business.”

Striking civilian infrastructure could be a war crime under international law. Ebrahim Zolfaghari, a spokesperson for the Iranian military, has said that Iran would retaliate “crushingly and extensively” if its civilian infrastructure were attacked.

Iranians were bracing for the possibility of more strikes, while others were responding to the U.S. threats with a mix of indifference, defiance and bewilderment. Some Iranians on Tuesday formed human chains along bridges and around power plants across the country, videos and photographs posted by state and other local media showed. It’s unclear whether the demonstrations were spontaneous or planned by the government.

The Israeli military said it had launched airstrikes on eight bridges across Iran, and warned Iranians not to ride railroads until 9 p.m. local time. Iranian state media reported that at least three people were killed when a railway bridge was hit in the central city of Kashan.

Iran targeted energy facilities in Persian Gulf countries allied with the United States. Saudi Arabia’s defense ministry said that debris from an intercepted missile had fallen near energy facilities in the east and that the damage was being assessed. The United Arab Emirates’ defense ministry said missiles and drones had been fired from Iran.

Here’s what else we’re covering:

— Condemnation of Trump’s threat: Democratic lawmakers, one Republican senator and some influential right-wing commenters criticized Trump’s talk of the death of Iranian civilization, with some accusing him of threatening a war crime, and even genocide.

— Death tolls: The Human Rights Activists News Agency said at least 1,665 civilians, including 244 children, had been killed in Iran as of Monday. Lebanon’s health ministry on Thursday said more than 1,500 people had been killed in the latest fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. In attacks blamed on Iran, at least 50 people have been killed in Gulf nations. In Israel, at least 20 people had been killed as of Monday. The U.S. death toll stands at 13 service members, with hundreds of others wounded.