Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney publicly warned Donald Trump not to break international law after he threatened that Iranian ‘civilisation will die tonight’ unless Tehran reopens the Strait of Hormuz.
Mr Carney stressed that America, Israel and Iran must respect international law and that meant not targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure.
Trump has given Iran until 8pm in Washington (midnight GMT and 3.30am in Tehran) to end its blockade of Gulf oil, saying he will otherwise destroy every bridge and power plant in Iran within four hours.
Hours before the deadline, reports were emerging that Kharg Island, Iran’s key oil terminal in the Gulf, had come under attack.
Amid the escalating conflict, oil prices climbed on Tuesday and US crude was on track for its highest close since 2022.
Brent futures rose 0.6%, to $110.40 (£83) a barrel at 10:41am EDT (2.41pm GMT), while US West Texas Intermediate crude rose 3.5%, to $116.36 (£87.50).
In Britain, Sir Keir Starmer was urged to take a clearer stance on whether the Government would regard as a war crime if Trump launches a huge bombardment on Iran’s power plants and bridges.
The US president has threatened to unleash “hell” and turn Iran back to the “Stone Age” if it does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas passes.
Sir Keir has allowed UK bases, including RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, to be used by US bombers for “defensive” missions such as targeting Iranian missile sites, after British citizens, military and other interests came under attack in the Middle East.
American aircraft are also using UK bases for missions to try to re-open the key strait which has been effectively closed by Tehran for vessels linked to the West after more than 20 tankers were targeted in airstrikes.
The RAF bases are not expected to be used by American planes for attacking Iran’s civilian infrastructure.
But Labour Leftwinger John McDonnell, MP for Hayes and Harlington, piled pressure on the Prime Minister to speak out against the attack threatened by Trump.
“We are on the verge of witnessing a potentially immense new surge in the scale of war crimes by Trump & Netanyahu. Both are out of control,” he messaged on X.
“The very least the UK should do is to make it clear that they will join with other states to pursue both through the courts for these crimes.”
Health Secretary Wes Streeting praised Sir Keir’s “level-headed judgement” for the Government’s position on the war, seeking not to be dragged deeper into it while offering the US some support for its military action.
Pressed on Sky News whether destroying Iran’s power plants and bridges, as threatened by Trump, would amount to war crimes, the Cabinet minister told Sky News: “It’s not my judgement to make.
“It’s for the US to justify its actions.
“The British government, the Prime Minister, has been clear that we would not get involved in this war in Iran.
“We wanted the diplomatic process that was well under way to be given more time.”
But Green Party leader Zack Polanski condemned the Government’s stance.
“Every day long range US bombers are taking off here to drop bombs on Iran,” he said.
“This is a rogue state carrying out war crimes, and threatening more.
“The UK Government must grow a spine - and stop our bases being used for this war.”
Iran showed no sign of agreeing to Trump’s demand that it open the Strait of Hormuz by the end of Tuesday or suffer massive attacks on its civilian infrastructure, in what would be the biggest escalation yet of the war.
As the clock ticked down on Trump’s deadline to unleash “hell”, global markets were largely frozen, hesitant to bet on whether Trump would follow through on his threats or call them off as he has in the past.
Iran has rejected Trump’s demands and threatened to retaliate against infrastructure belonging to US allies in the Gulf, whose desert cities would be uninhabitable without power or water.
Without waiting for Trump’s deadline to expire, Israel threatened Iranian civil infrastructure on Tuesday, warning Iranians in a Persian-language social media post to stay away from railways: “Your presence on trains and near railway lines endangers your life.”
Trump has abruptly called off similar threats over the past several weeks, citing what he has described as productive negotiations with unidentified figures in Iran, though Tehran has denied any substantive talks have taken place.
The two countries have so far exchanged proposals, with Pakistan acting as the main go-between, but there has been no sign of compromise, with both sides claiming to have won the war and demanding concessions from their foes to end it.
Iran’s ambassador to Pakistan said on Tuesday “positive and productive endeavours” by Islamabad to mediate an end to the war were “approaching a critical, sensitive stage”, but gave no further details.
A proposal brokered by Pakistan would call for a temporary ceasefire and the lifting of Iran’s effective blockade of the strait, while putting off a broader peace settlement for further talks, according to a source familiar with the plan.
But Iran’s 10-point response, as reported by IRNA news agency on Monday, would require a permanent end to the war, the lifting of sanctions and a promise of the reconstruction of Iranian sites damaged by the Israeli-US strikes.
It would also include a new mechanism to govern passage through the Strait of Hormuz, previously an open international waterway.
Trump imposed his latest deadline on Iran in a social media message on Sunday that declared “Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH!”, language Iranian officials described as desperate or even mad.
At a press conference on Monday, Trump doubled down: “The entire country can be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night,” he said. “Every bridge in Iran will be decimated... Every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding, and never to be used again.”
That has left investors tottering between bets either on a quick resolution, or on an escalation that could prolong an unprecedented disruption to energy supplies and hammer the global economy.
“We are back on a Trump-imposed countdown clock and there’s no way to predict with any confidence what will happen,” said Kyle Rodda, senior markets analyst at Capital.com.
“The more intrepid traders might make a bet one way or the other. Others will look to hedge risk or stay out entirely. But there’s not much market participants can really do but wait and see.”
Iran’s deputy sports minister, Alireza Rahimi, has called on artists and athletes to form human chains at power plants across the country on Tuesday.
