By SABRINA PENTY, FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER and PERKIN AMALARAJ, FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER
Updated: 21:22 BST, 7 April 2026
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has said that ‘only the President knows where things stand and what he will do’ in Iran after he threatened to attack the country’s ‘whole civilization’.
Speaking to NBC News on Tuesday, Leavitt also confirmed that Donald Trump’s deadline for Iran remains in place.
‘The Iranian regime has until 8pm Eastern Time to meet the moment and make a deal with the United States,’ she said.
Meanwhile, Iran has warned that it will take ‘immediate and proportionate’ action if Trump follows through on his threats to attack the country.
Tehran’s United Nations representative, Amir-Saeid Iravani, said Trump’s threats 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-defence and will take immediate and proportionate reciprocal measures,’ he said.
The envoy’s warning comes after Trump threatened Tuesday that a ‘whole civilization will die tonight’ if Iran fails to meet his latest deadline to strike a deal that includes reopening the Strait of Hormuz, while the Islamic Republic urged young people to form human chains around power plants and other potential targets.
Since the war began, Trump has repeatedly imposed deadlines linked to threats, only to extend them. But the president insisted this one is final and will expire at 8pm ET in Washington without a major diplomatic breakthrough.
Even before the deadline, airstrikes hit two bridges and a train station, and the US hit military infrastructure on Kharg Island. It was the second time American forces struck the island, a key hub for Iranian oil production.
Meanwhile, Iranian state TV today broadcast images of civilians protesting at bridges and power plants, in a direct taunt after Trump threatened to strike infrastructure. Videos showed women and children waving flags as chanting blared on a loudspeaker.
White House says Trump’s deadline remains in place
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told NBC News on Tuesday that Trump’s deadline for Iran remains in place.
She said: ‘The Iranian regime has until 8pm Eastern Time to meet the moment and make a deal with the United States.’
‘Only the President knows where things stand and what he will do,’ she said.
White House scrambles to deny plan to nuke Iran after warning by JD Vance
The White House has denied remarks by Vice President JD Vance about military operations in Iran that contained any suggestion of a US nuclear strike against the Islamic Republic.
After Vance said US forces have tools they ‘so far haven’t decided to use’ to enforce a dramatic ultimatum from President Donald Trump, the White House said on X: ‘Literally nothing @VP said here “implies” this, you absolute buffoons.’
The post was in response to one from an account associated with former vice president Kamala Harris that said Vance implied Trump ‘might use nuclear weapons.’
WATCH: Explosions seen on Iran’s Kharg Island
Breaking:Trump says ‘we’re in heated negotiations’ as Iran and US review two-week ceasefire plan
Donald Trump has said he is in ‘heated negotiations’ with Iran as the two sides review a two-week ceasefire plan.
The President said that he has been briefed on a proposal by Pakistan, which is mediating talks with the Iranians, ahead of a US deadline set to expire at 8pm ET Tuesday.
Trump has vowed to strike Iran’s civilian infrastructure, including energy sites, unless the Strait of Hormuz is reopened.
The President refused to comment on the drafted plan, telling Fox News: ‘I can’t comment, because right now we’re in heated negotiations.’
A senior Iranian official said Tehran is positively considering Pakistan’s request for a two-week ceasefire, according to Reuters.
Any extension to the deadline would represent the fourth time that the President has shifted the goalposts since he first threatened to ‘obliterate’ Iran‘s power plants on March 21.
Trump posted on Truth Social this morning: ‘A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.’
Yvette Cooper and US Secretary of State discuss Middle East crisis
US secretary of State Marco Rubio has spoken with Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper about the escalating Middle East crisis.
The call came after Donald Trump warned ‘a whole civilization will die tonight’ if Iran failed to meet his Tuesday deadline for reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
US State Department principal deputy spokesman Tommy Pigott said: ‘Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke today with UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper about the Iranian regime’s ongoing attacks across the Middle East and the critical importance of restoring freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.
‘The secretary and Foreign Secretary agreed on the need for international efforts to ensure shipping can move freely and energy supplies can reach global markets.’
Israel warns of increased risk of attacks as Trump deadline nears
Israel’s military warned Tuesday of an increased risk of inbound attacks as US President Donald Trump’s 1am GMT deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz approached.
‘Following a situational assessment, and as part of preparations for the possible expiration of the ultimatum, there may be an increase in fire toward the territory of the State of Israel in the coming hours,’ the Israeli military said on its official Telegram channel.
Pictured: An Israeli air-defence system intercepts an Iranian missile flying towards Israel, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, as seen from Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, April 7, 2026
Pictured: An Israeli air-defence system intercepts an Iranian missile flying towards Israel, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, as seen from Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, April 7, 2026.
Trump aware of Pakistan’s proposal
Trump is aware of Pakistan’s proposal for a two-week extension to a deadline he imposed on Iran, and a response will come soon, Axios reported on Tuesday, citing White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Mediator Pakistan urges Trump to extend Iran deadline
Pakistan’s prime minister, who is playing a key mediating role in the Middle East conflict, has urged Trump to extend his deadline for massive strikes on Iran by two weeks.
‘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,’ Shehbaz Sharif said in a post on X.
‘To allow diplomacy to run its course, I earnestly request President Trump to extend the deadline for two weeks.’
Sharif urged Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz ‘for a corresponding period of two weeks as a goodwill gesture.’
The Pakistani leader further called on ‘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.’
Explosions heard in Doha
Blasts were heard in the Qatari capital Doha on Tuesday evening, AFP correspondents reported, while the UAE said its air defences were responding to missile threats.
‘The UAE’s air defences are currently dealing with missile and drone attacks coming from Iran,’ the Emirati ministry of defence said in a statement on X.
Meanwhile, AFP journalists in Doha heard several explosions hours before a US deadline for Iran to agree to a deal or suffer attacks on its civilian infrastructure.
Pictures show how streaks of light illuminate the sky over Israel during missile interception
Iran prepared for ‘all scenarios’ after Trump threats
Iran is prepared for all possibilities in its war with the United States and Israel, First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref said, following threats from US President Donald Trump.
‘National security and infrastructure sustainability are the subject of our precise calculations. The government has finalised the necessary measures in detail for all scenarios. No threat is beyond our preparedness and intelligence,’ Aref said in a post on X.
French Foreign Minister says he hopes Trump does not go ahead with his latest threats against Iran
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Tuesday that he hoped U.S. President Trump would not go ahead with his latest threats against Iran.
‘One does not erase a civilisation…This ultimatum is not the first that President Trump has set since the war started,’ Barrot told France 2 television.
‘Obviously, I hope he does not go ahead with his threats that would push the region but also the world in a new escalation that would be particularly dangerous,’ he added.
Trump on Tuesday threatened that ‘a whole civilisation will die tonight’ as Iran showed no sign of accepting his ultimatum to open the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday evening.
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Karoline Leavitt says ‘only the president knows where things stand and what he will do’ after Trump said a ‘whole civilization will die tonight’ – live updates
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