Trump accused of genocide threat after warning Iran its “civilisation will die tonight” | BBC News

Donald Trump has been accused of threatening war crimes and genocide, after he told Iran that “a whole civilisation will die tonight” unless it agrees to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. He has also threatened to destroy Iran’s bridges, power plants and other infrastruction. The US President set a deadline of 8pm EST for Iran to comply.

Pakistan, which has been acting as mediator between the US and Iran, has called on Trump to extend the deadline by two weeks “to allow diplomacy to run its course”.

A growing number of US Democratic politicians are calling for President Trump to be removed from office. Dozens of Democratic lawmakers accused Donald Trump of "threatening genocidal war crimes" or being "too dangerous" to "have the nuclear codes". Senior Democrats in the House of Representatives have called on Republicans to join them in a "vote to end this reckless war of choice in the Middle East before Donald Trump plunges our country into World War III”.

Pope Leo said that threats directed at Iran’s population were “truly unacceptable". The Pope, who is American, has increasingly voiced criticism of the Iran war.

The US Vice President JD Vance was separately accused of threatening the use of nuclear weapons against Iran, after he said the US had "tools in our tool kit that we so far haven't decided to use. The President of the United States can decide to use them and he will decide to use them if the Iranians don't change their course of conduct". Asked to clarify his comments, the White House said "literally nothing" Vance said implied such a threat.

Iran has said it will not be intimidated by US threats and said it would continue its military campaign against US allies in the region

Fiona Bruce presents BBC News at Ten reporting by Sarah Smith, Lyse Doucet and Jeremy Bowen.

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