UN chief decries ‘incendiary rhetoric’ after Trump ramps up threats against Iran as deal deadline looms

The day so far
US president Donald Trump has warned that a “whole civilization will die tonight” but said Iran still has time to capitulate ahead of a deadline set for 8pm in Washington. The American leader issued the stark threat Tuesday, about 12 hours ahead of his deadline for Iran to agree to a deal that includes reopening the strait of Hormuz or face punishing strikes.

The UN rights chief decried Tuesday the “incendiary rhetoric” in the Middle East war, warning that deliberate attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure was “a war crime”. “Under international law, deliberately attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure is a war crime. Anyone responsible for international crimes must be held to account by a competent court,” Volker Turk said in a statement, without naming the United States, Israel nor Iran…