Iran says Hormuz will be ‘completely closed’ if Trump attacks power plants

TEHRAN/ ARAD (ISRAEL): Iran has warned of retaliatory attacks on regional infrastructure if US President Donald Trump follows through on his ultimatum over the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump has said he will “obliterate” Iran’s power plants if it fails to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours.

“We have repeatedly said the Strait of Hormuz is closed only to the enemy and to harmful traffic,” said army spokesman Ebrahim Zolfagari on state television, according to a report on Al Jazeera network on Sunday.

“It has not yet been completely closed and is under our intelligent control and harmless transit – under specific regulations that ensure our security and interests – is allowed, the spokesman said. Separately, Iranian officials said they would keep providing safe passage through the strait to vessels from countries other than its enemies.

“However, if the United States carries out its threats against Iran’s power plants the following punitive actions will be taken immediately:

l The Strait of Hormuz will be completely closed and will not reopen until our damaged power plants are rebuilt.

l All power plants and the energy and information technology infrastructure of Israel will be widely targeted.

l All similar companies in the region that have American shareholders will be completely destroyed.

l Power plants in regional countries hosting US bases will be considered legitimate targets.”

Meanwhile, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, stepped up their attacks on Israel on Sunday, launching strikes across the country after the US and Iran threatened to widen their targets in the war in the Middle East, now in its fourth week.

As Israel came under renewed fire, top Israeli leaders travelled to the southern town of Arad, one of two communities near a secretive nuclear research site struck by Iranian missiles late Saturday, wounding scores of people.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toured the destruction in Arad and said it was a “miracle” no one was killed there. He claimed Israel and the US were well on their way to achieving the war’s goals and implored the international community for more support.

Earlier, President Trump warned the US will destroy Iran’s power plants if Tehran fails to fully open the Strait of Hormuz, setting a 48-hour deadline on Saturday. Iran’s parliament speaker said if the US follows through on its threat, Tehran will retaliate against American and Israeli energy and wider infrastructure in the region.

The developments signalled the Iran war, which the US and Israel launched on February 28, was moving in a dangerous new direction, despite Trump’s mention last week he was considering “winding down” operations. It has killed hundreds of people, rattled the global economy and sent oil prices surging.

Hezbollah claimed responsibility for an airstrike Sunday that killed a man in northern Israel while Gulf Arab states -- including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates -- said they were intercepting fresh barrages of new Iranian strikes.

Iran has practically closed the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint connecting the Persian Gulf to the rest of the world through which roughly one-fifth of global supply passes. Attacks on ships and threats of further strikes have stopped nearly all tankers from navigating the strait, compelling some of the largest oil producers to make cuts because their crude has nowhere to go.

The blockade is a liability for both the US and its allies in Europe and Asia, who rely heavily on the Persian Gulf supply to meet energy demand and power factories, vehicles and homes. The US lifted some sanctions on Iranian oil at sea to relieve pressure on energy prices.

Iran said its strikes in the Negev Desert were in retaliation to an earlier attack on Iran’s main nuclear enrichment site in Natanz, according to state-run media.

``If the Israeli regime is unable to intercept missiles in the heavily protected Dimona area, it is, operationally, a sign of entering a new phase of the battle,” Qalibaf said.

Dimona is about 20 kilometres west of the nuclear research centre, and Arad about 35 kilometres to the north.

Israel is widely believed to possess nuclear weapons, though it doesn’t confirm or deny their existence. The UN nuclear watchdog said on X it had not received reports of damage to the Israeli centre or abnormal radiation levels.

Israel denied responsibility for hitting Natanz on Saturday while the Iranian judiciary’s official news agency, Mizan, said there was no leakage. The Pentagon declined to comment on the strike at Natanz, which was also hit in the first week of the ongoing war and in the 12-day war last June.

The UN watchdog -- the International Atomic Energy Agency -- has said the bulk of Iran’s estimated 441 kilograms of enriched uranium is elsewhere, beneath the rubble at its Isfahan facility.

Iran’s death toll in the war surpassed 1,500 on Saturday, state media reported, citing the ministry. In Israel, 15 people have been killed by Iranian strikes. More than a dozen civilians in the occupied West Bank and Gulf Arab states have been killed in strikes.

The war has also seen noncombat-related accidents, including a US refuelling plane crash in Iraq that killed six US service members and a Qatari military helicopter crash on Saturday blamed on a technical malfunction. All seven aboard were killed, Qatari authorities said Sunday.