‘A whole civilisation will die tonight’: Trump ramps up Iran threats as deadline draws nearer
Donald Trump has dialled up his threats on Iran warning a “whole civilisation will die tonight” ahead of his latest looming deadline for Iran.
The chaotic sentiment has rocked markets across Europe after indexes struggled to find direction during early trading.
The FTSE 100 see-sawed between gains and losses as the City market returned from the Easter break. The blue-chip index eked out a gain at the starting bell, before dipping into the red and continuing volatile trading throughout the session.
It was a pattern mirrored around Europe with Amsterdam’s AEX and Germany’s DAX dipping at open before trading broadly flat into the afternoon.
Tensions were escalated after Trump issued a bombastic Truth Social post reading: “A whole civilisation 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.”
Trump’s deadline for strikes on Iran sits at 8pm Eastern Time on Tuesday, which equates to 1am on Wednesday in British summertime.
Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, said: “Given the last few have all been moved, there is plenty of appetite to bet on another serving of TACOs.
“In which case, we will find ourselves in the same world 24 hours from now, with the Straits still closed and Iran’s stranglehold intact, but with markets seemingly unbothered.”
The term TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out) was coined by investors following Trump’s continuous bait-and-switch on tariff policies throughout last year.
The erratic policy changes have continued throughout the conflict in the Middle East, with Trump issuing numerous deadlines to Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz, which around a fifth of the world’s oil supply flows through.
Iran threatens to open ‘doors of hell’
Iran’s General Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi warned over the weeked that “the doors of hell will be opened” if Iran’s infrastructure is attacked, according to state media reports.
Trump’s deadline issued on Sunday was accompanied with an expletive-packed Truth Social post where he urged Tehran: “Open the f***in’ strait you crazy b***ards, or you’ll be living in Hell- JUST WATCH!”
“If he does finally follow through on his threats then the reaction is likely to be a lot different,” Beauchamp said.
“Today’s session is thus a write-off for investors, who will spend their day sitting on their hands.”
The price of oil rallied throughout the morning climbing over the $111 mark, before taking a tumble beneath $110 and shedding around one per cent. Brent crude – the international benchmark for oil prices – has climbed over 15 per cent in the last month.
Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said: “The conflict in the Middle East is one long deadline after another and there is a constant stream of promises to end the war coming out of the White House.
“Ultimately no one knows that the President will do next, and this is causing tensions to remain high in financial markets.”