BRUSSELS — The EU has shrugged off Donald Trump’s threats to wipe out the “whole civilization” of Iran, with diplomats and officials signaling they weren’t taking the U.S. president’s remarks literally.
Asked to respond to Trump’s post on the Truth Social platform, which referred to the deadline of Wednesday 2 a.m. Brussels time he has given Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the European Commission said it had “no comment.” A spokesperson for the EU’s foreign policy wing, the European External Action Service, also declined to comment.
“Honestly if we reacted every time somebody posted something outrageous online, that is all we would do,” said an EU official with knowledge of discussions on strategy. “I don’t get a feeling today that anybody in Brussels is taking this particular post differently than how we have taken the others.”
Iran has blocked sea traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world’s oil normally travels, sending prices skyrocketing. Trump’s latest warnings come after he suggested strikes would hit bridges, desalination plants and energy targets — which could include civilian infrastructure that, if attacked deliberately, could constitute a war crime.
“We don’t want to discuss hypotheticals at this point,” said an EU diplomat, who is also party to the bloc’s policy on Trump and the Iran war.
The diplomat and the official were granted anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” Trump said in his Tuesday afternoon post. “WHO KNOWS? We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World. 47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!”
It was left to a smattering of members of the European Parliament to condemn Trump’s post.
“This genocidal language from the President of the United States is shameful,” said Barry Andrews, an Irish member of the centrist Renew Europe group. Greens MEP Erik Marquardt blasted “the dangerous madman in the White House,” calling for someone to “put a stop to him and his delusions.”
“We don’t know exactly what he means, but something like this can’t simply be brushed aside,” said German MEP Özlem Alev Demirel from The Left group, warning of the risk of a nuclear strike.
Trump’s latest threat against Iran comes after he said on Sunday that “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day.” The Pentagon has revised a list of energy sites the U.S. could target to include several that provide fuel for both civilians and the military as a likely workaround to avoid war crime accusations, POLITICO reported.
Earlier on Tuesday, before Trump’s post threatening civilizational erasure, a spokesperson for the European Commission told reporters that the EU condemns “any threats” to hit “critical civilian infrastructure,” saying “such attacks risk impacting millions of people across the Middle East and beyond and also may lead to further dangerous escalation. The EU calls for a maximum restraint, the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure and full respect of international law and international humanitarian law by all parties.”
Gerardo Fortuna, Mari Eccles, Sebastian Starcevic and Gabriel Gavin contributed to this story.
Trump threatens to wipe out Iran’s ‘whole civilization.’ EU has no comment.
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