United States President Donald Trump has threatened to attack civilian infrastructure inside Iran, including bridges and power plants, if the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened by his stated deadline of Monday.
Trump made the threat in an expletive-laden social media post on Sunday, in which he repeated previous threats to pummel vital infrastructure across Iran.
“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****** Strait, you crazy b*******, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
The 10-Day Countdown
On March 26, Trump set a 10-day deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route for the global energy market, where traffic has ground to a halt since the US and Israel first attacked Iran on February 28.
He told Fox News on Sunday that Iran was currently negotiating with the US and that he believed the two could reach a deal before the deadline.
Iranian Officials Vow Retaliation
Iranian officials have slammed Trump’s threats and promised to retaliate for any attacks on their Iranian infrastructure.
“Once again, the US president openly threatens to destroy infrastructure essential to civilian survival in Iran,” Iran’s mission to the United Nations said in response to Trump’s threats. “The international community and all states have legal obligations to prevent such atrocious acts of war crimes. They must act now. Tomorrow is too late,” it added.
Seyyed Mehdi Tabatabaei, deputy for communications at the Iranian president’s office, also stated that the strait would only be reopened following the payment of reparations for damages caused by the war. He said those payments would come in the form of transit fees through a “new legal regime” around the strait, consistent with previous Iranian statements that it may seek to translate its control over the strait into a system whereby ships passing through pay a fee even after the war ends.
Escalation vs. Negotiation
Tabatabaei dismissed Trump’s threats as a sign that the US has “resorted to obscenities and nonsense out of sheer desperation and anger”.
The US president has frequently repeated that Iran is seeking a deal to end the war and that fighting will end soon since the conflict began. Iran has stated that it is not seeking to end the war and has vowed to step up escalation across the region if its infrastructure is targeted.
Throughout the war, US officials have threatened Iran with overwhelming violence if it does not capitulate to US demands. Last week, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth threatened to send Iran “back to the Stone Age”.
Impact on Civilians
US-Israeli strikes have already targeted civilian infrastructure and facilities, including bridges, schools, healthcare facilities, and universities. Experts have warned that some of those strikes could constitute war crimes.
Asked if he was concerned about the impact of targeting infrastructure such as bridges and power plants on Iran’s civilian population, Trump told the Wall Street Journal that he was not.
“No, they want us to do it,” he said during an interview, adding that Iranians are “living in hell.”
Trump also declined to offer a timeline for the end of the war, stating only that “I will let you know pretty soon”.
