{"id":44516,"date":"2026-03-22T08:21:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T02:36:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/?p=44516"},"modified":"2026-03-22T08:21:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T02:36:14","slug":"trump-threatens-iran-with-power-plant-strikes-over-hormuz-oil-blockade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/trump-threatens-iran-with-power-plant-strikes-over-hormuz-oil-blockade\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump threatens Iran with power plant strikes over Hormuz oil blockade"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Reuters:<\/strong> US President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened to \u201cobliterate\u201d Iran\u2019s power plants if Tehran does not fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, a significant escalation barely a day after he talked about \u201cwinding down\u201d the war.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Iran doesn\u2019t FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 HOURS from this exact point in time, the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!\u201d Trump said on social media.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s ultimatum would expand the scope of US strikes to infrastructure that affects daily civilian life in Iran.<\/p>\n

The threat of Iranian attacks has kept most ships from getting through the strait, a narrow waterway that serves as the conduit for around a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies, threatening a global energy shock. Its near-closure sent European gas prices surging as much as 35% last week.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s Khatam al-Anbiya military command headquarters said Sunday that if the US attacks Iran\u2019s fuel and energy infrastructure, then Iran would target all US energy, information technology and desalination infrastructure in the region.<\/p>\n

Energy prices spiked last week after Iran responded to an Israeli attack on its major gas field by hitting Qatar\u2019s Ras Laffan Industrial City, \u2060which processes around a fifth of the world\u2019s liquefied natural gas, causing damage that will take years to repair.<\/p>\n

The threats to Gulf infrastructure came as the conflict entered dangerous new territory.<\/p>\n

Israeli officials said Iranian forces had for the first time fired long-range missiles, expanding the risk of attacks beyond the Middle East, even as an Iranian strike injured dozens of people not far from Israel\u2019s nuclear site.<\/p>\n

Iran launched two ballistic missiles with a range of 4,000 km (2,500 miles) at the US-British military base at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir said. The Israeli military said it was the first time Iran had used long-range missiles since the United States and Israel began attacking Iran on February 28.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese missiles are not intended to strike Israel. Their range reaches European capitals – Berlin, Paris, and Rome are all within direct threat range,\u201d Zamir said in a statement on Saturday.<\/p>\n

A source at Britain\u2019s defense ministry said the attack had occurred before the government gave specific authorization on Friday for the US to use British military bases to carry out strikes on Iranian missile sites.<\/p>\n

More than 2,000 people have been killed during the war. In Israel, 15 people have been killed in Iranian strikes.<\/p>\n

Trump sends mixed signals<\/strong><\/p>\n

Trump and his administration have sent mixed messages about US goals throughout the war, now in its fourth week, leaving US allies struggling to respond.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s ultimatum on Saturday was the most abrupt shift yet. Trump\u2019s rhetoric pivoted from a drawdown to an explicit 48-hour countdown \u2060to strike Iran\u2019s power infrastructure, even as US Marines and heavy landing craft continue heading to the region.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s largest power plants include the Damavand power plant near Tehran (2,868 megawatts of capacity), the Kerman plant in southeastern Iran (1,910 MW), and the Ramin steam power plant in Khuzestan province (1,890 MW), according to industry and energy databases.<\/p>\n

The country\u2019s sole nuclear plant at Bushehr on Iran\u2019s southern coast produces about 1,000 MW.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, Trump raised the idea of destroying Iran\u2019s power grid even while downplaying the notion. \u201cWe could take apart their electric capacity within one hour, and it would take them 25 years to rebuild,\u201d Trump told reporters on March 11. \u201cSo ideally, we\u2019re not going to be doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n

US voters appear increasingly concerned that the war could expand. Energy price shocks are fuelling inflation, hitting consumers and businesses hard, \u2060a major political liability for Trump as he seeks to justify the war to the public before November elections in which control of Congress is at stake.<\/p>\n

Trump had also accused NATO allies of cowardice over their reluctance to help open the strait. Some allies have said they will consider it, but most say they are reluctant to join a war that Trump started without consulting them.<\/p>\n

Iranian strikes hit southern Israel<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Israeli military said on Sunday that it is conducting strikes in Tehran, hours after attacks on southern Israel.<\/p>\n

Late on Saturday, \u2060Iranian missiles hit the southern Israeli cities of Dimona and Arad, injuring dozens of people, including children, in separate strikes. Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guards said in a statement early Sunday that they targeted \u201cmilitary installations\u201d and security centers in southern Israel.<\/p>\n

Israeli military spokesperson Brigadier General Effie Defrin said in a post on X that the country\u2019s air defenses were functioning but did not intercept the strikes. \u201cWe will investigate the incident and learn from it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s secretive nuclear reactor is about 13 km (8 miles) \u2060southeast of Dimona. Both cities lie near several military sites, including Nevatim Air Base, one of the country\u2019s largest.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has been a very difficult evening in the battle for our future,\u201d Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement released by his office following the strike on Arad.\u00a0\u201cWe are determined to continue striking our enemies on all fronts,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reuters: US President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened to \u201cobliterate\u201d Iran\u2019s power plants if Tehran does not fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, a significant escalation barely a day after he talked about \u201cwinding down\u201d the war. \u201cIf Iran doesn\u2019t FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 HOURS from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44517,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44516"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44516"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44519,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44516\/revisions\/44519"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}