As President Donald Trump’s 48-hour deadline approaches, Tehran has responded to his threat to “destroy” Iran’s power plants with a threat of its own and is showing no signs of backing down. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have now declared that energy facilities in countries where U.S. bases are located will become “legitimate targets” if Trump follows through.Writing in Truth Social, Trump warned that he would “hit and destroy” Iran’s power plants “starting with the largest” unless Tehran fully reopened the Strait of Hormuz by 23:44 GMT on Monday. About 20% of the world’s oil passes through the narrow waterway, which has been effectively blocked since the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran on February 28.On Sunday, Iran showed no signs of backing down, with Colonel Ibrahim Zolfakari, spokesman for Iran’s military command, warning that “if Iran’s fuel and energy infrastructure is attacked, then so will the fuel, energy, information technology systems and desalination infrastructure used by the United States and regimes in the region.”Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has threatened to irreversibly destroy the region’s critical infrastructure.He posted onThe war, now in its fourth week, has spread beyond Iran’s borders. On Saturday, Iran attacked a joint British-American base in the Indian Ocean, and Iranian and Israeli nuclear facilities were also attacked. The death toll in Iran has exceeded 1,500, in Lebanon more than 1,000, in Israel 15, and in the United States 13, with millions displaced across the region.Now, with time running out, the question is whether Trump’s ultimatum will take effect — or allow Tehran to emerge victorious. For a president who came into office vowing to avoid “stupid” wars, the conflict he helped spark now threatens to be beyond his control. His administration’s messaging is openly contradictory – talking about de-escalation while deploying three amphibious assault ships and some 2,500 Marines to the region. The United States has struck again at Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility, despite Tehran’s clear warnings against any attacks on its energy infrastructure.Trump has repeatedly called on China, Japan and NATO to help clean up the strait. No one has moved.The domestic economic pressure is real. Since the beginning of the year, natural gas prices have increased by 93 cents per gallon, and U.S. crude oil prices have increased by more than 70%. Paradoxically, the Trump administration has quietly begun easing restrictions on Iranian crude, allowing allies to buy the oil that funds Tehran — a resource it simultaneously seeks to cut off.Iran’s top diplomat made clear that any path to peace requires “guarantees” that the United States and Israel will not attack the Islamic Republic again and that its “sovereignty and national security will not be violated.” The comments were made during a phone call with EAM Jaishankar on Saturday.
