ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – US President Donald Trump on Tuesday warned that “a whole civilization will die tonight, calling it one of the most “important moments” in the history of the world, as his deadline for Iran draws closer.

“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” Trump said in a statement on Truth Social.

“We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World,” he added.

On Sunday, Trump warned to carry out extensive strikes on key Iranian infrastructure on Tuesday at 8 PM ET, if maritime traffic at the vital Strait of Hormuz remains restricted, which has led to a steep rise in fuel prices globally.

“I mean complete demolition by 12 o'clock, and it'll happen over a period of four hours,” Trump threatened in a Monday briefing on the Iran war.

“47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end,” the statement noted, referring to the Islamic Republic of Iran’s government.

“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?” Trump said.

He has previously said that Iran’s government will “automatically” undergo a regime change with many senior officials killed.

In Budapest, US Vice President JD Vance was speaking to reporters alongside Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. He said that Washington “has largely accomplished its military objectives” in Iran, and that there’s going to be “a lot of negotiation” until the US deadline.

Trump’s deadline was an extension of a previous warning on Saturday to strike Iran “in two days,” should Iranian authorities fail to strike a deal with Washington or reopen the Strait of Hormuz.