By Eric Zuesse
Eric's Substack
April 21, 2026
On Sunday, April 19th, Trump twice repeated his threat to destroy Iran: " We're offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it because, if they don't, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran. NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!" and " If they don't sign this deal, the whole country is going to get blown up".
If he does that, then Iran won't only fire its missiles and drones at Israel and at all U.S. military bases, warships, and at oil depots and processing plants in the Middle East, but also at the desalinating plants that all of America's allies in the Middle East depend upon for their drinking water. Israel appears to want that outcome in order to destroy Iran (which they want to do as much as they want to steal all Palestinian land), but none of America's other Middle-Eastern allies are quite so hate-obsessed - they don't hate Iran nearly as much as Trump and Netanyahu do.
Why isn't Iran therefore privately if not publicly warning those non-Israel Middle-Eastern nations that this will be the outcome for them if Trump will carry out his threat to destroy Iran ? Those U.S. allies need to be publicly threatening Trump that the U.S. alliance will end promptly if he does that, and they aren't doing this, which fact shows they aren't receiving such a warning from Iran. Iran's fear hasn't yet become their fear too. Iran's sending them this warning would be the likeliest way to motivate them to get Trump to back off and quit his demands upon (for U.S. control of) Iran. He and Netanyahu started this war on February 28th by bombing Iran again, and they have zero legality at either the international or national level for their having committed this inexcusable international aggression - especially in the very midst of Trump's fake 'negotiation' (actually mere threats against and) with Iran. If Trump will now commit this enormous international war crime and war against humanity, he will bring the Middle East and perhaps even the whole world down with him. Obviously, he must be stopped. But who is yet doing it ? And who would be likelier to achieve this than the dictators in the Middle East whose very countries would be destroyed by Iran if Trump destroys Iran.
Apparently, they still don't yet believe that destroying Iran would lead ultimately to their own destruction. The time when they might be able to stop this might be very short, but there is no indication that Iran has yet adequately warned them.
On April 19th, NBC headlined "Poll: Trump's approval rating hits second-term low as Americans sour on the economy and Iran war", and reported that "Overall, 37% of adults approve of Trump's performance as president, while 63% disapprove - including 50% who said they disapprove strongly." On the question "Do you approve or disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling the war with Iran?" 19% said "Strongly approve," 14% said "Somewhat approve," 13% said "Somewhat disapprove," and 54% said "Strongly disapprove." So, if he will go through with his repeated threats to destroy Iran, then he won't be representing the views of the vast majority of the American people; however, only "13% of self-described supporters of the MAGA movement said they disapprove of Trump's handling of the war, while 87% approve"; so, he will be representing those people's views. As to what those people's view are, these individuals are much more vocal about their views than other Americans are, and the most popular of the reader-comments at Yahoo to their April 19th article "Trump tells Iran to sign deal with US or 'the whole country is going to get blown up'" was "Go boots on the ground ! Finish this!" and anther one that was also popular was "I am definitely not a Trump fan but here we agree. Iran is a problem the world and the Middle East has ignored for decades. Boots on the ground by all countries - a new government that serves the people with the idea of it being mirrored with that of Japan. Japan is a Capitalist/Peoples government that highlights Japanese culture/customs. Iran can be the same by mirroring Iranian/Persian cultures and customs of a peaceful people." So, America, which has invaded and militarily occuied over a hundred countries after the Soviet Union broke up in 1991, is, like its ally Japan, "a peaceful people," but Iran, which hasn't, "is a problem the world and the Middle East has ignored for decades."
This article was originally published on Eric's Substack.
Investigative historian Eric Zuesse's latest book, AMERICA'S EMPIRE OF EVIL: Hitler's Posthumous Victory, and Why the Social Sciences Need to Change, is about how America took over the world after World War II in order to enslave it to U.S.-and-allied billionaires. Their cartels extract the world's wealth by control of not only their 'news' media but the social 'sciences' - duping the public.