Top-ranking Senate Democrats condemned President Trump on Tuesday for threatening to wipe out a “whole civilization” in Iran, calling it a betrayal of American values and a threat to commit war crimes.
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, led the group of senators who hold top party positions on committees that guide foreign relations and appropriations.
“We speak today with one voice and one purpose: to condemn President Trump’s threat to extinguish an entire civilization,” said the group, which also included Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Brian Schatz of Hawaii, Jack Reed of Rhode Island and Chris Coons of Delaware.
“This is not strength,” the senators said. “Intentionally destroying the power, water, or basic infrastructure upon which tens of millions of civilians depend to punish the very civilians who suffer at the hands of the Iranian regime would constitute a war crime, a betrayal of the values this nation was founded on, and a moral failure.”
Democrats were responding to a Truth Social post that Mr. Trump wrote earlier Tuesday about his deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for oil traffic, or risk devastating strikes on its power plants, bridges and other infrastructure.
“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” the president wrote.
At the same time, Mr. Trump left room for negotiation, pointing to the possibility of “different, smarter, and less radicalized minds” prevailing after U.S. and Israeli forces killed Iran’s old leaders in the initial stages of the conflict.
Mr. Trump appeared to be trying to generate maximum leverage in talks with Iranian leaders over terms to win a ceasefire.
However, his threat spooked foreign allies and Democrats.
“It’s unconscionable to threaten the lives of so many people — grandparents, children, families — simply because they were born in Iran. President Trump’s reckless threat makes Americans less safe, further destabilizes our nation and economy, and puts at greater risk U.S. service members,” Mr. Schumer and his colleagues said. “It only serves to push us further away from the only viable solution to this war: a diplomatic one. The president must not follow through on this threat.”
