According to media reports, US President Donald Trump has now threatened that “a whole civilization will die tonight” as Iran has shown no sign of accepting his ultimatum to open the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday evening, Washington time.
According to reports, Iran says it would retaliate against US allies in the Gulf, “whose desert cities would be uninhabitable without power or water”.
Although the US President is often described, and rightly so, as a person who threatens and blusters, but does not carry it through.
However, his is not an empty threat, so to speak. Irked by the increased resilience of the government or regime in Iran, his threat now contains a measure of confidence; it is not overly self-assured.
Having said that, I would like to state that the situation is profoundly profound in the region at this point in time in particular in view of the woefully hardened positions the US and the Islamic republic have taken in the ongoing war. In other words, their stances have become firmer, stronger and more unyielding. Neither side is less rigid. Therefore, there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel. But I still pray for a breakthrough although circumstances are absolutely bleak and stagnant.
Bushra Hayat (Dubai)
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026