New Delhi: President Donald Trump said he would suspend his threatened genocidal attack against Iran less than two hours before the deadline he himself had set for Tehran on April 7. “It is an Honor to have this Longterm problem close to resolution,” he wrote on Truth Social.Trump’s threats – the latest of which exposed Iran to a very possible nuclear end – have escalated since he announced the war, with Israel, on Iran 40 days ago. With it has come his deadlines and their inevitable extensions.After saying in an earlier post on Truth Social that “a whole civilization will die tonight,” the US president has now posted that he would withhold “the bombing and attack of Iran” for two weeks, subject to Iran reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian officials said they have accepted a two-week ceasefire and that passage through the strait would be allowed for that same period.Trump’s Truth Social posts have acquired a status in hate speech that is yet unreconciled to global leaders. In addition to profanity and threats of genocide, Trump has announced deadline extensions and also proclamations that the negotiations were going well, sometimes in the same statement.So how did Trump’s deadline delays and threats escalate over the weeks leading up to the eventual backing off?March 2Speaking from the White House, three days after the US and Israel began attacking Iran, Trump told reporters, “We projected four to five weeks, but we have capability to go far longer than that.”March 21Trump posted on Truth Social that the US would “hit and obliterate” Iranian power plants if it did not fully reopen the strait within 48 hours. Iran had until the evening of March 23.“If Iran doesn’t FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 HOURS from this exact point in time, the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!” Trump had written on Truth Social.Then, 12 hours before the deadline, Trump took to Truth Social to share what seemed good news: that both countries had productive conversations toward concluding the conflict.He wrote that he had instructed the Pentagon to postpone any strikes on Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for five days, to give more time for talks.That pushed the deadline to the end of that week.March 26Before that deadline ended, on March 26, Trump doubled down on his threats on Truth Social: “They better get serious soon, before it is too late, because once that happens, there is NO TURNING BACK, and it won’t be pretty!”But later that day, he extended the deadline for 10 more days, to April 6 at 8 pm Eastern Time, and said on Truth Social that negotiations were “going very well.”March 30On March 30, Trump put out a mixed statement: celebrating progress in the talks with Iran while also expanding his threatened bombing if a deal wasn’t “shortly reached,” adding that “it probably will be.”“We will conclude our lovely ‘stay’ in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!),” he wrote.It’s unclear how soon “shortly reached” meant for Trump, but a deal was not made as the deadline loomed.April 4“Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on Saturday, “Time is running out – 48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them.” He meant rain down.In the preceding days, Trump had alternately attacked allies for not fighting to reopen the Strait of Hormuz themselves and said that it would reopen through US efforts.April 5Trump made statements to the press and on social media that the US was setting a deadline of Tuesday, April 7 at 8 p.m. ET, which would be Wednesday, April 8, at 3:30 a.m. in Tehran.As the deadline approached, his posts had doubled down on his threats until he Trump pushed it again in an expletive-filled post.“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the F——-in’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell,” Trump said on Truth Social, followed by another post that specified 8 p.m. as the deadline.Trump told ABC News that if there was no deal in the next 48 hours, “We’re blowing up the whole country.”April 6Trump then suggested on Monday that Tuesday’s deadline would be final, saying he’d already given Iran enough extensions.“The entire country can be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night,” Trump said at the White House. “We have a plan, because of the power of our military, where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o’clock tomorrow night.”UN Secretary-General António Guterres had previously warned the US that attacks on civilian infrastructure are banned under international law, according to his office. Trump had said he’s “not at all” concerned about committing war crimes with such attacks.April 7On April 7, Trump had sent his statement saying “a whole civilization will die tonight,” to which he added that “I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.”(With AP inputs)