President is considering strikes on key civilian and military purpose areas in Iran as his 8 PM ET deadline approaches, NBC News reported on Tuesday, citing two US officials. This development could open the 79-year-old to war crime prosecution and comes as several Democrats spoke about removing him using the 25th Amendment.
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Trump’s latest threat to Iran
Earlier in the day, Trump warned that a ‘whole civilization will die tonight’ and called for a ‘complete and total regime change’.
“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will. However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS? We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World. 47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!” he posted on Truth Social.
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Even before Trump’s deadline, the US struck bridges across Iran and on Kharg Island, the country’s key oil export hub, NBC News added.
Iran responds
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard responded to Trump’s threats, saying it would ‘deprive the US and its allies of the region’s oil and gas for years’ if Washington follows through with further action.
“We have not initiated attacks on civilian targets and will not; however we will not hesitate to retaliate against despicable aggressions on civilian facilities,” the IRGC warned.
“Regional American partners should know that, until now we have exercised significant restraint for the sake of good neighborliness and have taken precautions in selecting retaliatory targets, but from now on, all such precautions have been removed.”
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Update on potential ceasefire
Meanwhile, Iran’s ambassador to Pakistan said that Islamabad’s ‘positive and productive’ effore for a ceasefire between the US and Iran are reaching a ‘critical, sensitive stage’.
“Pakistan[‘s] positive and productive endeavours in Good Will and Good Office to stop the war is approaching a critical, sensitive stage,” Ambassador Reza Amiri Moghadam wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Stay tuned for more,” he added. No other details were revealed.
Trump’s potential targets in Iran
NBC News’ source reported that Trump could order strikes on critical infrastructure considered of ‘dual use’. The US may avoid the technical definition of war crime. It was revealed that attacking electricity plants and other civilian infrastructure will violate international law.
As fears of a nuclear bomb surfaced after Vice President JD Vance’s comments, the White House clarified: “Literally nothing @VP said here ‘implies’ this, you absolute buffoons.”
25th Amendment talks
Calls to invoke the 25th Amendment, and even pursue impeachment, have intensified on Capitol Hill after Trump escalated rhetoric around Iran.
The latest remarks triggered a wave of responses from congressional Democrats, many of whom are now openly discussing constitutional mechanisms to remove the president from office.
Rep. Ilhan Omar wrote: “This is not ok. Invoke the 25th amendment. Impeach. Remove. This unhinged lunatic must be removed from office.”
Rep. Yassamin Ansari added:”The 25th Amendment exists for a reason; his Cabinet should use it. The fate of U.S. troops, the Iranian people, and the very foundation of our global system are at stake,”
Several other lawmakers, including Reps. Mark Pocan, Rashida Tlaib, Diana DeGette, Shri Thanedar and Sydney Kamlager-Dove, explicitly backed invoking the amendment.
What Section 4 of the 25th Amendment allows
Section 4 of the 25th Amendment enables the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet to declare a president ‘unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office’. Any such move would then require approval by two-thirds of both chambers of Congress to be sustained.
