Trump backs down from threat to annihilate Iran condemned by Catholic leaders

President Donald Trump on April 7 backed down from his threat to wipe out Iran’s “whole civilization,” citing negotiations with Pakistani mediators.

Catholic leaders, including Pope Leo XIV, were among those who condemned the threat.

Shortly after 8 a.m. EDT, Trump threatened that a “whole civilization will die tonight” if Iran did not make a deal by 8 p.m. EDT on April 7. But in a post on his social media website Truth Social shortly before that deadline, Trump said he would suspend the attacks for two weeks if Iran reopened the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil trade route.

“Based on conversations with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, of Pakistan, and wherein they requested that I hold off the destructive force being sent tonight to Iran, and subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz, I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks. This will be a double sided CEASEFIRE!”

After the U.S. and Israel initiated combat operations against Iran on Feb. 28, arguing the Iranian regime presented grave nuclear threats, Iran effectively shut down the Strait of Hormuz by striking ships there. The closure of the strait has led to a significant spike in energy costs, which is among the factors driving opposition to the conflict among most U.S. adults, polls show.

Trump claimed the U.S. has “already met and exceeded all Military objectives, and are very far along with a definitive Agreement concerning Longterm PEACE with Iran, and PEACE in the Middle East.”

“We received a 10 point proposal from Iran, and believe it is a workable basis on which to negotiate,” Trump said. “Almost all of the various points of past contention have been agreed to between the United States and Iran, but a two week period will allow the Agreement to be finalized and consummated. On behalf of the United States of America, as President, and also representing the Countries of the Middle East, it is an Honor to have this Longterm problem close to resolution.”

Trump’s initial threat prompted widespread and grave concern, as targeting civilians is generally a violation of international law.

Earlier April 7, while speaking to journalists at Castel Gandolfo and without naming Trump, Pope Leo called the threat “truly unacceptable,” addressing it first and foremost as a moral question that affects the good of an entire people. He added that he wanted to remind all involved that “attacks on civilian infrastructure is against international law.” Such attacks, he added, are a sign of “the hatred, the division and the destruction that the human being is capable of.”

“And we all want to work for peace, people want peace,” Pope Leo said. “I would invite the citizens of all the countries involved to contact the authorities, political leaders, congressmen, to ask them, tell them to work for peace and to reject war.”

Echoing Pope Leo, Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, also rebuked the president and urged him to find another course of action.

“The threat of destroying a whole civilization and the intentional targeting of civilian infrastructure cannot be morally justified,” he said prior to Trump’s statement backing down from his initial threat.

Just moments before Trump’s statement announcing the two-week ceasefire, Cardinal Robert W. McElroy of Washington issued a statement echoing calls from the pontiff and Archbishop Coakley in calling for the immediate cessation of hostilities.

“Any nation which undertakes war with the intention of ending an entire civilization has lost its moral compass, and I call upon all of my fellow citizens to join together in bringing us home to the principles upon which our nation was founded,” he said.

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