It is 4:50 PM ET on April 7, and the whole world is bracing for what might become one of the biggest escalations of a geopolitical conflict in recent history.
United States President Donald Trump had set 8 PM ET today as the deadline for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz.
The narrow strip of waterway linking the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea is crucial for global oil transport but has been in a chokehold since the U.S. and Israel launched attacks on Iran in late February.
If the Strait is not opened and a deal is not reached by the deadline, the President has threatened strikes on important infrastructure in Iran, like power plants and bridges.
Meanwhile, Russia and China vetoed a United Nations proposal to reopen the Strait just hours before the deadline.
Related: Mysterious trader shorts oil amid Strait of Hormuz crisis
Trump escalates tensions with new post
Early morning on Tuesday, the escalations reached a new high.
Trump warned on Truth Social,
"A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don't want that to happen, but it probably will."
He claimed that there has been a regime change that is "less radicalized" and hinted at a slight window of de-escalation.
The post sent shockwaves globally.
Former U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris slammed the President's warnings. In a scathing post on X, she wrote,
"The President of the United States is threatening to commit war crimes and wipe out a "whole civilization" — all because he started a disastrous war of his own making and had no plan and no strategy for how to end it."
Pakistan, which has been mediating the talks between Washington and Tehran, requested that Trump extend the deadline by two weeks.
"To allow diplomacy to run its course, I earnestly request President Trump to extend the deadline for two weeks. Pakistan, in all sincerity, requests the Iranian brothers to open the Strait of Hormuz for a corresponding period of two weeks as a goodwill gesture," Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a post on X.
Trending on TheStreet Roundtable:
Market hopes for a deadline extension
Traders in Polymarket, the crypto -based betting platform, are also hopeful about a deadline extension.
At 3:32 PM ET, the chances of an extension stood at 35%. However, in an hour, it jumped up to 66%.
Meanwhile, traders are assigning a 74% chance that Trump will announce an end to military operations against Iran by June.
The next four hours will tell what comes next.
Related: Trump warns ‘whole civilization will die tonight’ as markets slide before Iran deadline
This story was originally published by TheStreet on Apr 7, 2026, where it first appeared in the MARKETS section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
