US President Donald Trump sparked a new wave of criticism and warnings after a statement that was considered an implicit threat to launch a nuclear attack against Iran, amid escalating military tensions between Washington and Tehran and the stalling of negotiations between the two sides.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Trump said that if the ceasefire with Iran collapses, “everyone will see a great deal of fire coming out of Iran,” adding: “They better sign the deal quickly, or they will suffer a lot of pain.”
Trump's remarks came after an exchange of attacks between the United States and Iran this week, despite the US administration's insistence that the ceasefire was still in place. Washington had announced it had carried out "defensive" strikes against Iranian military sites, which it said were linked to attempts to target US ships in the Strait of Hormuz, while Tehran considered those strikes a violation of the truce.
Observers believe that Trump’s talk of “Iran’s glow” suggests a threat to use nuclear weapons, or to target civilian infrastructure and energy infrastructure extensively, which has sparked sharp condemnations, according to the Common Dreams platform.
The National Iranian-American Council said, “The threat of setting Iran ablaze, whether with nuclear weapons or otherwise, represents an almost unbelievable threat of committing a mass war crime against 92 million people, and should not become normal.”
The organization added that Trump's statements "raise once again urgent questions about his competence to make fateful decisions that affect the lives of millions of people," calling for these threats to be taken seriously.
Trump sparked widespread controversy last month after threatening to “wipe out Iranian civilization ,” prompting dozens of Democratic lawmakers to call for a study into his impeachment under the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
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