President Trump threatens Iran’s energy infrastructure if Strait of Hormuz remains closed
President Donald Trump has threatened to destroy Iranian power plants unless the vital Strait of Hormuz is opened.
President Donald Trump has threatened to destroy Iranian power plants unless the vital Strait of Hormuz is opened, prompting Iran to respond with its own retaliatory threats as the war’s energy crisis escalates.
The president used social media to press countries in the Middle East over global shipping lanes, which Iran has effectively shut down since the Feb. 28 U.S. and Israeli attacks. Iran is one of the world’s most important oil hubs, transporting approximately 20% of the world’s oil products each year.
“If Iran does not fully open the Strait of Hormuz without threat within 48 hours from this point, the United States will attack and destroy various power plants, starting with the largest!” President Trump wrote on Truth Social shortly before 8 p.m. on Saturday, March 21st.
In response, Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said that if the United States attacked Iranian power plants, Iran would destroy critical infrastructure and oil facilities in the region in an “irreversible manner.” In a March 22 post on X, Qalibaf also threatened that oil prices would “remain high for a long time.”
Iran threatens retaliatory attack amid energy crisis
The US-Israel war on Iran has entered its fourth week, and the economic and oil-related fallout continues to shake global and domestic markets. On Sunday, March 22, the average gasoline price in the United States reached $3.94 per gallon, compared to $2.98 per gallon two days before the war began.
The United States, Israel and Iran have entered a new phase in their ongoing war, with oil and gas a key target for both sides, as consumers struggle with a near-strong dollar over the past three weeks.
Israel’s attack on South Pars, Iran’s largest gas field, on March 19 led to Iranian retaliatory attacks on US-allied Gulf states. Hours after the South Pars attack, Iran attacked a refinery in Kuwait and damaged Ras Laffan, a large liquefied natural gas production facility in Qatar.
More than 2,000 people have died in the ongoing war
Lebanon continues to suffer the second-highest war death toll after Iran as belligerent nations threaten new energy and oil targets. The conflict has left more than 2,000 people dead in multiple countries.
Thirteen U.S. service members have been killed, and the Pentagon announced last week that the number of U.S. soldiers injured in the Iran war had risen to 200.
More than 1,000 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon, including nearly 120 children, 80 women and 40 medical workers, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. The United Nations reported on March 21 that 2,584 people have been injured in Lebanon since March 2, when the Iran-linked militant group Hezbollah launched attacks on Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
Casualty numbers vary in Iran.
US-based human rights organization HRANA announced on March 21 that 3,230 people had been killed, including 1,406 civilians and at least 210 children.
President Trump denies ceasefire in Iran war
President Donald Trump has made clear he has no intention of calling for a ceasefire with Iran.
Reuters reported that the latest figures from Iranian state media put the death toll at 1,270, but Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations said on March 6 that at least 1,332 people had died since the war began.
Elsewhere in the region, authorities confirmed 60 deaths in Iraq, 15 civilians and two soldiers in Israel, eight deaths in the United Arab Emirates and six deaths in Kuwait, Reuters reported. According to Reuters, two people were killed in Saudi Arabia, Oman and Bahrain, and four in Syria.
The Democratic Party deals a blow to the administration over expenses.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on March 22 that the United States “has plenty of money to fund this war” as Congress prepares for an expected $200 billion request from the Pentagon.
Bessent called the request “supplemental” and ruled out pushing for tax increases to finance the war. Asked if it might end soon, Bessent told host Kristen Welker: “Sometimes you have to de-escalate to de-escalate.”
Sen. Chris Murphy responded to Bessent’s comments on the same show, suggesting that Democrats may try to use the Pentagon’s expected request for billions of dollars in additional war spending to pressure the administration to end the conflict.
“We need to end this war,” Murphy said. “The only way to bring prices down here in the United States, the only way to bring peace to this region, is to end this war.”
The funding request faces fierce opposition in Congress, with Democrats and some Republicans questioning its necessity after last year’s massive defense spending. Many Democrats have also voiced strong opposition since the beginning of the joint U.S.-Israel war, posing additional hurdles to fulfilling the Pentagon’s demands.
Contributed by: Reuters.
Kathryn Palmer is USA TODAY’s political reporter. She can be reached at the following address: kapalmer@usatoday.com And to X@Kathryn Purml. Sign up for her daily politics newsletter here.
