U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened to “obliterate” Iran’s power plants if Tehran does not fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, according to Reuters, marking a sharp escalation just a day after signaling a possible de-escalation of the conflict.
“If Iran doesn’t FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 HOURS… the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!” Trump said on social media. The ultimatum suggests a widening of potential U.S. targets to include civilian energy infrastructure.
Shipping through the narrow strait — a key conduit for roughly a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas — has been severely disrupted amid fears of Iranian attacks, raising the risk of a global energy shock.
European gas prices surged by as much as 35% last week as the waterway’s near-closure rattled markets.
Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya warned on Sunday that any U.S. strike on its fuel and energy infrastructure would trigger retaliatory attacks on American energy, information technology, and desalination facilities across the region.
The warning followed Iranian strikes on Ras Laffan Industrial City in Qatar, a major global LNG processing hub, after an earlier Israeli attack on Iran’s gas sector. Damage to the site is expected to take years to repair.
The confrontation has entered increasingly volatile territory. Israeli officials said Iranian forces had for the first time deployed long-range missiles, expanding the potential threat zone beyond the Middle East.
Iran launched two ballistic missiles with a reported range of 4,000 km at the Diego Garcia base, according to Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir. He warned the weapons could reach major European capitals, including Berlin, Paris, and Rome.
A source at UK Ministry of Defence said the missile attack occurred before Britain formally authorized the United States to use its bases for strikes on Iranian missile facilities.
More than 2,000 people have been killed since the conflict began, according to estimates. In Israel, at least 15 people have died in Iranian strikes.
