International

Pope Leo calls Trump’s ‘whole civilization’ Iran threat ‘truly unacceptable’

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by Max Rego - 04/07/26 6:58 PM ET

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by Max Rego - 04/07/26 6:58 PM ET

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Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday called President Trump’s latest threat against Iran “unacceptable.”

“Today, as we all know, there was this threat against the entire people of Iran, and this is truly unacceptable,” the first American pontiff told reporters outside of his residence in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, according to Reuters.

Earlier Tuesday, Trump warned that a “whole civilization will die tonight” in Iran, ahead of the 8 p.m. EDT deadline he set for the Iranian government to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” the president wrote on his Truth Social platform. “I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will. However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, 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!”

But later Tuesday, Trump announced he was suspending strikes against Iran for two weeks after conversations with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistani army chief Asim Munir. Sharif had asked Trump to extend his deadline after the president’s latest threat of strikes.

“This will be a double sided CEASEFIRE! The reason for doing so is that we have already met and exceeded all Military objectives, and are very far along with a definitive Agreement concerning Longterm PEACE with Iran, and PEACE in the Middle East,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “We received a 10 point proposal from Iran, and believe it is a workable basis on which to negotiate. Almost all of the various points of past contention have been agreed to between the United States and Iran, but a two week period will allow the Agreement to be finalized and consummated.”

The pope has criticized the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran since it began on Feb. 28 and has called for diplomacy. As of Monday, 1,665 civilians in Iran, including at least 248 children, have been killed since the conflict started, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.

On Easter Sunday, the pontiff wrote on the social platform X, “Let those who have weapons lay them down! Let those who have the power to unleash wars choose peace! Not a peace imposed by force, but through dialogue! Not with the desire to dominate others, but to encounter them!”

Also regarding the president’s since-suspended threat, the pope told reporters Tuesday, “There are certainly issues ⁠here of international law, but even more than that, it is a moral question for the good of the [world’s] people.”

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