Fresh threats between Iran and the US to attack critical civilian infrastructure risked imperilling millions of people across West Asia, as President Trump warned that he could target Iranian power plants and Tehran vowed that such attacks would lead to retaliation against vital energy and water facilities.
Iran dismissed Trump's ultimatum that if the Strait of Hormuz — the vital oil shipping route choked off by Iranian strikes — were not fully reopened by Monday night, the US would strike Iranian power plants. Tehran said the strait would be "completely closed" if its energy infrastructure were attacked, as it launched new missile attacks on Israeli cities.
Iranian missiles hit Dimona, a city eight miles from Israel’s main nuclear facility, and the nearby city of Arad on Saturday night. More than 10 people were seriously injured and dozens more suffered minor injuries, underscoring Tehran's ability to inflict damage despite four weeks of devastating airstrikes by the US and Israel. More than 2,000 people have been killed across the region, mostly in Iran.
The escalating threats to attack key infrastructure increased the potential for civilian danger as the war entered its fourth week.
Just days after he warned Israel against targeting Iranian energy sites to avoid an escalating cycle of counter-strikes, Trump said late on Saturday that the US would “obliterate” Iran’s power plants — which millions of Iranians depend on — within 48 hours if the strait were not reopened.
Ebrahim Zolfaghari, an Iranian military spokesperson, vowed that his country would strike infrastructure used by Israel, the US and American allies — including desalination plants that are a lifeline for much of West Asia.
Mike Waltz, the US ambassador to the United Nations, defended President Trump’s threat to attack Iranian energy infrastructure in televised interviews on
Sunday.
Speaking to both Fox News and CBS News, he said that Iran’s gas-powered thermal power plants were legitimate targets.
Waltz claimed that much of the country’s energy infrastructure was controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, the security apparatus directly controlled by the country’s theocratic leaders.
“The President is not messing around,” Waltz told Fox. “He stands on his red lines, and he’s not going to allow this genocidal regime to hold the world’s energy supplies or economies hostage.”
Tehran response
Iranian officials responded defiantly on Sunday to Trump’s threat to escalate attacks, warning that Iran would retaliate in kind if the US or its allies widened their strikes against the country’s critical infrastructure.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran did not start this war, but it will not hesitate in defending its people and its land,” the country’s first vice-president, Mohammad Reza Aref, said in a statement reported by Mehr, a semiofficial news agency. He added that Iran “will determine when and how this war will end.”
Zolfaghari said the Strait of Hormuz would be “completely closed” until any damaged Iranian power plants were rebuilt, in a statement reported by state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, the state broadcaster.
Iran insisted that the strait was not fully closed. Ali Mousavi, Iran’s permanent representative to the International Maritime Organisation, said that the waterway was “open to everyone” except Iran’s enemies. Since the start of the war, Iran has allowed some friendly countries, including India, China and Pakistan, to secure safe passage of their ships through the strait.
Netanyahu speaks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday sought support from the “rest of the world” in the war. He posted on X: “Iran has proven again in the last 48 hours that it is the enemy of civilisation and a danger to the free world: targeting children, families, and the elderly with terror missiles, threatening Jerusalem’s holy sites, launching long-range missiles, and trying to blackmail the world through the Strait of Hormuz. I ask the leaders of the free world: what are you waiting for? Israel is fighting not only for itself, but for all of you.”
Lebanese attack
A person was killed in northern Israel on Sunday morning in an attack by Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese armed group, the Israeli authorities said.
Bridge bombed
The Israeli military announced it is preparing to bomb the Qassmiye bridge, a major bridge in southern Lebanon, where it has also ordered civilians to flee their homes. Israel later struck the bridge near Tyre, giving an hour's warning.
Israeli officials have justified the attacks on the bridge, part of the fastest route from Beirut to southern Lebanon, by saying that Hezbollah is using these bridges to send fighters and weapons to the south to fight Israel. But the routes are also used by ordinary Lebanese, raising questions about the impact on civilians.
Qatar crash
A Qatari helicopter crashed in the Persian Gulf because of a technical malfunction during a routine operation, killing members of the Qatari and Turkish armed forces and Turkish civilians, according to the Qatar defence minister. It was not immediately clear whether the crash was related to the fighting in the region.
US on gas prices
As the war with Iran sends gas prices soaring, Scott Bessent, the US treasury secretary, maintained that Americans understand the reasons behind the short-term pain — even if he could not estimate how long it would last.
Appearing on NBC’s Meet the Press, Bessent offered the hypothetical that “50 days of temporary, elevated prices” was a worthwhile tradeoff for “50 years of peace in the Middle East”.