After Trump, JD Vance issues warning to Iran: 'We still have tools we haven't used yet'
Vance also stated that the US is still confident it can get Iran's response by 8 PM, referring to the deadline set by President Donald Trump.
Minutes after Donald Trump’s warning to Iran, US Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday said the US has tools in its toolkit that so far haven’t been decided to use. He said Trump can decide to use them, and he will decide to use them if the Iranians don’t change their course.
“We have tools in our toolkit that we so far haven’t decided to use. Trump can decide to use them, and he will decide to use them if the Iranians don’t change their course,” Vance said. Vance also stated that the US is still confident it can get Iran's response by 8 PM, referring to the deadline set by President Donald Trump.
Earlier in the day, Trump warned that a "whole civilisation will die tonight" if Iran does not meet his latest deadline for the Islamic Republic to agree to a deal that includes reopening the crucial Strait of Hormuz.
Iran urges young people to form human chains to protect power plants
The warning came as airstrikes hit two bridges and a train station in Iran, and Iranian officials urged young people to form human chains to protect power plants. Trump has extended previous deadlines but suggested the one set for 8 pm in Washington was final, and the rhetoric on both sides reached a fever pitch, leaving Iranians on edge.
Trump threatened to destroy all of Iran's power plants and bridges if Tehran does not allow traffic to fully resume in the strait, through which a fifth of the world's oil transits in peacetime.
Iran's President says 14 million people volunteered to fight
Iran's president said 14 million people, including himself, have volunteered to fight. It was not clear if the latest airstrikes were linked to Trump's threat to attack bridges. At least two of the targets were connected to Iran's rail network, which Israel earlier signalled it might attack.
Israel has increasingly carried out strikes that it says are aimed at delivering a blow to Iran's economy. Iran, meanwhile, fired on Israel and Saudi Arabia, prompting the temporary closure of a major bridge.
While Iran cannot match the sophistication of US and Israeli weaponry or their dominance in the air, its chokehold on the strait is causing major damage to the world economy and raising the pressure on Trump both at home and abroad to find a way out of the standoff.
Officials involved in diplomatic efforts said talks were ongoing - but Iran has rejected the latest American proposal, and it was unclear if a deal would come in time to head off Trump's threatened attacks. World leaders and experts warned that strikes as destructive as Trump threatened could constitute a war crime.
World leaders call for restraint after Trump's threat
Various world leaders including French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot joined a growing chorus of international voices and calling for restraint, saying attacks targeting civilian and energy infrastructure "are barred by the rules of war, international law."
"They would without doubt trigger a new phase of escalation, of reprisals, that would drag the region and the world economy into a vicious circle," the minister said on France Info television. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also warned the US that attacks on civilian infrastructure are banned under international law, according to his spokesperson.
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'Whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again': Trump's big warning to Iran