Middle East latest: Pakistan proposes two-week extension to Trump deadline with Iran

US president  set a deadline on Iran to end ‌its blockade of Gulf oil in the Strait of Hormuz last week

Workers remove debris at Tehran's Sharif University of Technology complex that Iranian authorities say was hit by a US-Israeli strike on Monday. Picture: Francisco Seco/AP

Pakistan has proposed a two-week extension to Donald Trump's deadline with Iran, hours after the US president threatened that "a whole civilization would die tonight."

Mr Trump set a deadline on Iran to end ‌its blockade of Gulf oil in the Strait of Hormuz. He vowed devastating military action if the country does not reach an agreement by 1am Irish time.

Pakistan prime minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday requested that he take a two-week extension.

"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 Strait of Hormuz for ⁠a corresponding period of two weeks as a ​goodwill gesture," Sharif said in a post on X.

Mr Trump is aware of ​Pakistan's proposal ​for a two-week extension ⁠to a ​deadline he ​imposed on Iran, and a response will ​come, White ​House press secretary Karoline ‌Leavitt said ⁠on Tuesday.

Mr Trump has ​given Iran until 8pm in Washington — 3.30am in Tehran — to end its blockade of Gulf oil or see ​the US destroy every bridge and power plant in ​the country.

Mr Trump wrote on his social media site: “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.” 

He added: “I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.” 

Mr Trump’s statement nonetheless kept the possibility of an off-ramp open, saying that “maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen".