A whole civilization will die tonight’: Trump's Truth Social post interpreted

Donald Trump's Truth Social post could 'be interpreted as a threat to commit genocide', said a former legal advisor commenting on the US president's threat that 'a whole civilization will die tonight' if Tehran does not make a deal by deadline.

Speaking to Reuters, Brian Finucane, Senior Adviser, U.S. Program at the International Crisis Group, said, “Trump's threat that 'a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,' could plausibly be interpreted as a threat to commit genocide."

Before joining the Crisis Group in 2021, Finucane served as legal advisor at the Department of State, including on the use of military force.

He said that under international and U.S. law "genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

(a) Killing members of the group;

(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;

(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;

(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;

(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group."

He added: "Trump may well hope this threat pressures Iran in ongoing negotiations. But the risk of Trump escalating U.S. attacks on Iran, causing grave harm to Iran's population and sparking further counter-escalation - is very real.”