US President Donald Trump speaks about the conflict in Iran in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on April 6, 2026, in Washington, DC. (Photo: AFP)

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Tuesday morning that Iran's "whole civilization will die tonight," a deadline he set for Iran to make a deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, signaling a possible sharp escalation of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.

"A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don't want that to happen, but it probably will," Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social.

Tuesday night would be "one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World," said Trump. He also claimed that the United States has already achieved "Complete and Total Regime Change" in Iran, asserting that the republic, established after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, "will finally end."

The president said on Monday that the White House planned to strike and destroy bridges and power plants across Iran by Tuesday midnight.

"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, where every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding and never to be used again," Trump told reporters at the White House.

He dismissed concerns that targeting such infrastructure could constitute a war crime.

U.S. forces struck military targets on Kharg Island, a key hub for Iran's oil exports, overnight, multiple U.S. media outlets reported on Tuesday, citing U.S. officials. The targets reportedly didn't include oil facilities.

Multiple railway lines across Iran were also hit by airstrikes on Tuesday, according to Iranian media.

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) warned Tuesday that if the U.S. army crosses the red line in attacking civilian targets, Iran's response "will go beyond the region."

"We will not hesitate to retaliate vile aggressions against civilian facilities," the IRGC said in a statement published on its official news outlet Sepah News.