President Donald Trump issued an expletive-laden threat to bomb Iran’s civilian power plants and bridges if it did not meet a new deadline of Tuesday to open the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran's largest power plant:
— Mossad Commentary (@MOSSADil) October 1, 2024
This power plant produces a total of about 2880 megawatts of electricity pic.twitter.com/TjKjdLrSOV
“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–kin’ Strait, you crazy b-stards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH!” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday. He signed off the message: “Praise be to Allah.”
In a follow-up post, Trump clarified the deadline was 8 p.m. eastern time on Tuesday.
Trump claimed in an interview with Fox News on Sunday that he was negotiating with Iran’s leaders and there was a “good chance” of a deal by Monday. “If they don’t make a deal and fast, I’m considering blowing everything up and taking over the oil,” he said.
Trump has made several similar threats to bomb Iran’s power plants, only to postpone or move deadlines after claiming progress in talks with Iranian leaders.
Under international humanitarian law, attacks on objects “indispensable to the survival of the civilian population” are prohibited and may constitute war crimes. The law also stipulates that collateral civilian harm from strikes not be “excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated.”
The destruction of power plants could lead to widespread blackouts and impact hospitals, water treatment facilities and food supply chains.
In a follow-up post, Trump clarified the deadline was 8 p.m. eastern time on Tuesday.
Trump claimed in an interview with Fox News on Sunday that he was negotiating with Iran’s leaders and there was a “good chance” of a deal by Monday. “If they don’t make a deal and fast, I’m considering blowing everything up and taking over the oil,” he said.
Trump has made several similar threats to bomb Iran’s power plants, only to postpone or move deadlines after claiming progress in talks with Iranian leaders.
Under international humanitarian law, attacks on objects “indispensable to the survival of the civilian population” are prohibited and may constitute war crimes. The law also stipulates that collateral civilian harm from strikes not be “excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated.”
The destruction of power plants could lead to widespread blackouts and impact hospitals, water treatment facilities and food supply chains.
Agnes Callamard, secretary general of Amnesty International, described Trump’s post as “revolting.”
“Running out of language to denounce and condemn. Iranian Civilians will be the first to suffer from the destruction of power plants and bridges. No heat, no electricity, no water, no capacity to move or to flee, and all that it means for their right to life,” she wrote on X in response to the threat.
The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow waterway in the Persian Gulf that has been effectively closed to shipping by Iranian strikes since Feb. 28, when the United States and Israel launched an attack on Iran that killed the country’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
In the month since, Iran’s counterattacks have struck U.S. bases across the Gulf, strategic Gulf infrastructure, and drastically slowed shipping in the Strait, causing a global shortage of oil and energy supplies, and sending gas prices in the U.S. skyrocketing.
Iran has threatened an energy war in response
Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf has responded to Trump’s previous threats to attack its power plants by saying it would respond by targeting Gulf and U.S.-linked energy facilities in the region, including “critical infrastructure, energy infrastructure, and oil facilities” throughout the region.
Iran’s joint military command repeated that threat on Sunday.
“We once again repeat: if you commit aggression again and strike civilian facilities, our responses will be more forceful,” a spokesman said in comments published by the IRNA news agency.
A key advisor to Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, also threatened the closure of another key waterway that connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. Ali Akbar Velayati warned in a social media post on Sunday that Iran could close the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
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