The day the world waits - Pope attacks Trump - journalist free again

Tehran - Trump wrote this morning that an entire civilization would fall tonight. He said he did not want this, but that it would probably happen. Then he waited.

In Budapest, JD Vance tried to get the president on the phone, in front of a cheering crowd that had come for Viktor Orban. On the first attempt, it went to voicemail. Not set up. The crowd laughed. On the second attempt, it worked, and Trump told the Hungarians he loved their country. Orban was a man who had kept his country strong. Twelve hours before the end of the world he had announced.

Somewhere in Tehran, a young designer put her cat into the car. Her parents had already driven to the Caspian coast at the beginning of the war. She had stayed, because of the animal. Today, fear has overtaken her attachment to her apartment. If the power plants fall, the water goes out, she says, because the pumps in Tehran run on electricity. In the Stone Age Trump promised, at least nature still exists on the coast. She does not say it dramatically. She just packs.

People as human shields in front of power plant facilities

The population in Bushehr has gone into the streets to protect the power plant. Whether this action is voluntary is secondary at this moment. What matters is that people are standing there, unprotected, risking their lives.

The Director General of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that further attacks near the Bushehr nuclear power plant could trigger a radiological accident - with consequences for people today, for their children, for an environment that knows no national borders. Hundreds of workers have already been evacuated there. At no decision table did that seem to slow anyone down. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres had his spokesman Stephane Dujarric say that he is deeply concerned. There is no military objective that justifies the complete destruction of a society’s infrastructure. He did not name Trump. Some things are clearer when they are not spoken. The choice between dialogue and destruction must be made now, said Dujarric. Now, not later.

Pope Leo XIV left his country residence in Castel Gandolfo and told journalists on a field road south of Rome that Trump’s threat against the Iranian people is truly unacceptable. Attacks on civilian infrastructure violate international law. He asked Americans and all people of goodwill to call their representatives and demand peace. It was the sharpest wording he has used since the beginning of the war, shortly before the deadline expired.

Russia and China blocked a Security Council resolution on the Strait of Hormuz that had been weakened so many times that almost nothing was left of it. It would have merely encouraged countries to coordinate their protection efforts. That was still not enough. Eleven votes in favor, two against. Pakistan and Colombia abstained.

Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that Israeli fighter jets struck eight bridge sections in Tehran, Karaj, Tabriz, Kashan and Qom. The Revolutionary Guard had used them for weapons transport, he said. Defense Minister Israel Katz had co approved the strikes. This is no longer the same Iran, and no longer the same Israel. Hitting bridges in five cities at the same time first hits the woman who takes her children to school in the morning. Netanyahu knows that too.

The Iranian regime led the chairman of Tehran’s small Jewish community through the damaged Rafie Nia synagogue, which had been hit by an Israeli strike. What is meant to look like empathy is an image for cameras. The regime has used its Jewish minority for decades, as needed. Iranian Jews have no choice in this war about which side they are on. That decision is made for them.

Iran fired seven rocket salvos at Israel by the evening. Sirens in Tel Aviv, in the south, in central Israel, in parts of the occupied West Bank. In Haifa, an elderly couple and their son were buried today, who had died in an attack. Tuesday evening marked the beginning of the last day of Passover. Northern Israeli communities continued to come under fire from Hezbollah.

An Iranian diplomat in Cairo, Mojtaba Ferdousi Pour, responded to Trump’s threat with the image of a tree. Iran’s civilization has fed the West. No reasonable person cuts off the branch they are sitting on. It is the quietest image of the day, and perhaps also the saddest.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described Iran’s actions in the strait as terrorism, but refused to comment on Trump’s announcement of the end of a civilization. Senator Chuck Schumer called Trump an extremely sick man and urged Republicans to vote against the war. Senator Ron Johnson from Wisconsin said he hopes and prays that the threats are only a bluff. He does not want civilian infrastructure to be destroyed. Democrats are planning further votes once Congress returns from recess next week. Until then, Washington is also waiting.

In Iraqi Kurdistan, an Iranian drone killed a married couple in their sleep. Their children in the next room survived. Saudi Arabia reported four intercepted drones. The King Fahd Causeway between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain was closed for the second time. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif spoke with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and praised his restraint. Pakistan is trying to mediate between the parties to the conflict. Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney called on all sides to respect international law.

According to the UN, an Israeli tank killed an Indonesian peacekeeper in Lebanon on March 29. Two more died a day later from an explosive device, likely placed by Hezbollah. UNIFIL had provided the Israeli forces with the coordinates of all its positions, twice, in March. In Lebanon, more than 1,500 people have now been killed, including 130 children and 57 paramedics. More than one million have been displaced.

The American journalist Shelly Kittleson, kidnapped in Baghdad last week, was released by Kataib Hezbollah - as a gesture toward the outgoing Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al Sudani. France and Iran exchanged prisoners. Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, held in Iran for years, are allowed to leave. France in return releases Mahdieh Esfandiari, who had been detained for her content on social networks. France drops its case against Iran.

An attack was carried out on Israel’s consulate in Istanbul. Israel’s Foreign Ministry condemned it and praised the intervention of Turkish security forces. Terror will not deter them, the ministry wrote.

In Gaza, people waded through flooded streets to bread distribution points because the sewage system is destroyed. One dollar per bread is not enough for large families. Jamal Hamad from northern Gaza says the war with Iran now overshadows everything - including what has been happening here for two years. He says it without bitterness. That is what someone sounds like who has gotten used to waiting.

The S&P 500 fell by 0.5 percent. The Dow Jones lost 271 points. The markets apparently still believed that at eight in the evening someone would give in. That is especially important for many on this day.

And then this:

Pakistan asks Trump to extend the deadline by two weeks in order to give diplomatic efforts room, which according to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif are making progress and could lead to tangible results. At the same time, Islamabad calls on Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz for this period and urges all parties to observe a two week ceasefire to allow a final end to the war.

Maybe they know something the rest of the world does not know. Maybe they simply believe it because the alternative weighs too heavily.