Trump Threatens Total Destruction of Iran Infrastructure Over Strait of Hormuz Closure

Donald Trump set an 8:00 p.m. ET Tuesday deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, threatening to destroy all bridges, power plants, oil wells, and desalination plants in Iran if Tehran failed to comply. Trump said the United States could bring about "total destruction" within four hours, declaring at a White House press conference on Monday: "The entire country can be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow." When asked whether striking energy facilities would constitute war crimes, Trump dismissed the concern outright. Asked again, he described Iran's leaders as "animals" and said the real war crime was allowing Iran to possess a nuclear weapon. The threats drew immediate condemnation from United Nations officials, international law experts, and members of both U.S. political parties.

„You know the war crime? The war crime is allowing Iran to have a nuclear weapon.” — Donald Trump via The Independent

The current conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran began on February 28, 2026, when U.S. and Israeli forces launched coordinated strikes on Iran, marking the start of what was designated Operation Epic Fury. Iran subsequently cut off shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, through which approximately 20% of the world's oil transits in peacetime, causing oil prices to surge and shaking global financial markets. The conflict entered its second month as Trump intensified pressure on Tehran, including threats against Kharg Island, a key node in Iran's oil export infrastructure.

Iran mobilizes youth as infrastructure strikes loom Iran rejected a ceasefire proposal brokered by Pakistan, Egypt, and Turkey, instead issuing a 10-point counterproposal demanding a permanent end to the war. Trump acknowledged the counterproposal but said it was "not good enough." Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian posted on X that over 14 million Iranians had declared readiness to sacrifice their lives in defense of the country. Iranian officials urged young people, athletes, artists, and students to form human chains around power plants ahead of the threatened strikes. Alireza Rahimi, identified by Iranian state television as the secretary of the Supreme Council of Youth and Adolescents, issued a video call to action, framing power plants as national assets belonging to the future of Iranian youth. Israel's military issued a warning in Farsi on social media, advising Iranians to avoid train travel throughout the country until 21:00 Iran time on Tuesday, stating that presence on trains and near railway lines would endanger lives.

„Power plants that are our national assets and capital, regardless of any taste or political viewpoint, belong to the future of Iran and to the Iranian youth.” — Alireza Rahimi via The Independent

Experts and international officials warned that Trump's threatened strikes would almost certainly constitute violations of international humanitarian law. UN Secretary-General António Guterres, through his spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, stated that even if certain civilian infrastructure could be classified as a military target, an attack would still be prohibited if it led to excessive civilian damage. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said on France Info television that attacks targeting civilian and energy infrastructure "are barred by the rules of war, international law" and warned they would trigger a new phase of escalation dragging the region and world economy into a damaging cycle. Law professor Rachel VanLandingham, a former legal advisor to the U.S. Air Force, warned that civilians were likely to die if electricity supply to hospitals and water treatment plants was cut off. The Damavand gas power plant near Tehran alone has a capacity of more than 2,800 megawatts and primarily supplies a metropolitan area of around 15 million people, according to reporting by Die Welt and Zeit Online. New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon also urged Trump not to proceed, calling any bombing of bridges, reservoirs, and civilian infrastructure "unacceptable."

„They would without doubt trigger a new phase of escalation, of reprisals, that would drag the region and the world economy into a vicious circle that would be very worrying and, most of all, very damaging to our own interests.” — Jean-Noël Barrot via The Independent

Hegseth faces impeachment push as strikes intensify U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth appeared alongside Trump at the Monday press conference and said that day would see "the largest volume of strikes" on Iran, with Tuesday set to bring even more. Representative Yassamin Ansari, a Democrat representing Arizona's 3rd congressional district, announced she would introduce articles of impeachment against Hegseth, accusing him of complicity in what she called an illegal war. Ansari also called for invocation of the 25th Amendment. Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump ally, also criticized the threats, writing on X that bombing power plants and bridges "hurts the Iranian people, the very people Trump claimed he was freeing" and calling the threats "evil." Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Trump was "threatening possible war crimes and alienating allies," adding that the country "deserves so much better." Israeli forces also conducted overnight strikes on Tehran and bombed a petrochemical facility in Shiraz, which Israel said produced nitric acid used to make explosives, as well as a ballistic missile launch site in northwestern Iran. A U.S.-Israeli strike on a residential building south of Tehran killed at least 13 people on Monday, according to reporting by The Guardian.

„Trump is escalating a devastating, illegal war, threatening massive war crimes and targeting civilian infrastructure in Iran. In the last 48 hours alone, the rhetoric has crossed every line. Pete Hegseth is complicit.” — Yassamin Ansari via The Independent

20 (%) — Share of world oil supply transiting Strait of Hormuz in peacetime