US President Donald Trump is threatening Iran with the destruction of its energy facilities if the country does not open the Strait of Hormuz completely and “without threats” within 48 hours.
Otherwise, the US would attack and destroy Iran’s power plants, “starting with the largest!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
A counterwarning promptly followed from Tehran: If Iran’s fuel and energy infrastructure were attacked, the Iranian military would target all energy infrastructure and desalination plants with connections to the USA in the entire Gulf region, the Fars news agency, which is close to the Revolutionary Guards, quoted a spokesman as saying.
Escalation threatens
This threatens to escalate the war that began three weeks ago between the USA and Israel – with unforeseeable consequences for the region and the entire global economy. The conflict over the Strait of Hormuz is already having an enormous impact on global markets, and oil prices have risen sharply.
The strait between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman is an important artery for international trade in oil and liquefied natural gas. As a result of the American-Israeli attacks in Iran, Tehran has repeatedly threatened to attack ships there. Shipping traffic has practically come to a standstill.
Trump: Iran “wiped off the map”
According to US media reports, US fighter jets and attack helicopters are increasingly bombing Iranian drones and warships in order to clear the important strait. The US armed forces also said they used bunker-busting bombs to attack specially protected Iranian missile positions on the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump was quoted by US media outside the White House on Friday as saying: “I don’t want a ceasefire. You don’t make a ceasefire if you literally wipe out the other side.”
In response to an analysis by “New York Times” author David Sanger that Trump had not yet achieved many of his own war goals, Trump defiantly wrote back on his Truth Social platform: “Yes, I have, and weeks earlier than planned!” The USA had “wiped Iran off the map.” The country no longer has any leadership, the navy and air force have been destroyed. It also has “absolutely no defense left.”
Iran wants to conclude a deal, Trump confirmed. “I don’t want that! We are weeks ahead of schedule,” the US President continued. He had previously said he was considering scaling back attacks in Iran. At the same time, according to media reports, the USA is sending thousands more soldiers to the region. According to Trump, the US is close to achieving its goals in the war.
Tehran is combative – More than 100 injured in Israel
However, Iran remains combative. According to the state broadcasting agency Iribnews, the Revolutionary Guards’ secret service said it had analyzed the enemy’s “vulnerable points” and was preparing a new wave of attacks “with new strategies and more modern systems.”
In Israel, more than 100 people were injured on Saturday evening in Iranian rocket attacks on the two southern desert cities of Dimona and Arad, eleven of them seriously. There was severe destruction. Israel’s air defense failed to intercept at least two rockets, the Times of Israel newspaper reported. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke of a “very difficult evening in our fight for our future.”
Attack on nuclear facility
Iranian state media reported that the attacks targeted an Israeli nuclear research facility located about 10 kilometers from Dimona and 30 kilometers from Arad. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced on Platform X in the evening that there was no evidence of damage to the Negev Nuclear Research Center. According to information from regional states, no unusually high radiation levels were detected.
According to Iranian state media, the attacks in southern Israel were in retaliation for an attack on Iran’s uranium enrichment facility in Natans on the same day. Iran blamed the US and Israel. When asked, the Israeli army said it had not attacked Natans.
For the first time, Tehran also fired two rockets at the US-British base at Diego Garcia. According to US media, they did not hit the base. The base is located around 4,000 kilometers southeast of the Iranian coast – and therefore about twice as far away as the previously officially confirmed range of the Iranian missile arsenal. With such a range, Iranian medium-range missiles could theoretically reach European cities.
Israel announces continued attacks
“This shows how much the decision-making process is moving towards extremes,” the Wall Street Journal quoted Israeli Iran expert Danny Citrinowicz as saying. The revolutionary leader Ali Khamenei, who has since been killed, acted with great restraint in deploying the armed forces. “This restraint is no longer guaranteed,” Citrinowicz wrote on X.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Israel Katz announced a continuation of attacks against Iran. They are determined to “continue to attack our enemies on all fronts,” said Netanyahu after the rocket strikes in the south of his country. Katz said they would continue to “decapitate” Iran’s commanders and destroy its strategic capabilities “until every security threat to the State of Israel and U.S. interests in the region is eliminated.”
Israel’s military chief Ejal Zamir said with regard to the duration of the war that we were “halfway there.” The war will continue during Passover, which begins on the evening of April 1st and lasts a week. The traditional Jewish festival commemorates the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt and their liberation from slavery.
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WASHINGTON/TEHRAN (dpa-AFX)
