Iran Vows to Target Gulf Energy Infrastructure After Trump’s Power Plant Threat

Iran has promised to strike energy and water facilities throughout the Gulf region if President Trump carries out his ultimatum to attack Iranian power plants by Monday evening. The escalating threats raise concerns about potential disruptions to critical infrastructure that Gulf nations depend on for electricity and water supply.

TEL AVIV/JERUSALEM/WASHINGTON, March 23 (Reuters) – Tehran has issued a warning that it will target energy and water infrastructure throughout the Gulf region should President Donald Trump make good on his ultimatum to attack Iran’s electrical grid, sparking concerns about widespread disruption in an area that relies heavily on desalinated water for drinking.

Trump established a Monday evening deadline of approximately 7:45 p.m. EDT (2345 GMT), issuing a late Saturday warning that America would target Iran’s power facilities unless Tehran completely reopens the Strait of Hormuz within a 48-hour window.

The possibility of retaliatory attacks on civilian infrastructure has further destabilized oil markets, with prices beginning Monday’s Asian trading session with volatility.

Following more than three weeks of intensive bombardment by U.S. and Israeli forces that officials claim has significantly diminished Iran’s missile capacity, Tehran has maintained its ability to launch counterstrikes. Warning sirens echoed throughout northern and central Israel, including Tel Aviv and the occupied West Bank, during Sunday night hours as incoming Iranian missiles were detected.

Earlier, Israeli military officials announced the completion of strikes against Tehran, focusing on a military installation along with weapons manufacturing and storage sites.

The semi-official Mehr News agency reported that at least one fatality occurred during an air strike on a radio facility in Iran’s Gulf port city of Bandar Abbas, while air defense systems were activated in eastern Tehran early Monday.

Trump’s ultimatum emerged less than 24 hours after he suggested the United States might consider de-escalating the conflict, despite U.S. Marines and heavy landing vessels moving toward the region.

“If Iran’s fuel and energy infrastructure is attacked by the enemy, all energy infrastructure, as well as information technology…and water desalination facilities, belonging to the US and the regime in the region will be targeted pursuant to previous warnings,” Iranian military spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaqari stated, according to state media.

However, while electrical grid attacks could damage Iran, they would prove potentially devastating for neighboring Gulf states, which use approximately five times more electricity per person. Power makes their modern desert metropolises livable, partly through operating desalination facilities that supply 100% of water consumption in Bahrain and Qatar. These plants utilize seawater to fulfill over 80% of drinking water requirements in the United Arab Emirates and half of Saudi Arabia’s water supply.

Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf reinforced the threat, posting on X that vital infrastructure and energy installations across the Middle East could face “irreversible destruction” if Iranian power facilities come under attack.

Iran’s influential Revolutionary Guards indicated this would also ensure the shipping corridor where one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas typically passes along Iran’s southern coastline would stay closed.

“The Strait of Hormuz will be completely closed and will not be opened until our destroyed power plants are rebuilt,” the Guards declared in an official statement.

The conflict launched by the U.S. and Israel on February 28 has claimed over 2,000 lives, disrupting markets, increasing fuel prices, stoking global inflation concerns, and creating turmoil within the postwar Western alliance.

“President Trump’s threat has now placed a 48-hour ticking time bomb of elevated uncertainty over markets,” noted IG market analyst Tony Sycamore, who anticipates stock market declines when trading resumes Monday.

Iranian attacks have effectively shut down the Strait of Hormuz, creating the most severe oil crisis since the 1970s. The near-blockade drove European gas prices up as much as 35% during the previous week.

“If Iran doesn’t 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!” Trump wrote on social media around 7:45 p.m. EDT (2345 GMT) Saturday.

Iranian media quoted the nation’s International Maritime Organisation representative as stating the strait remains accessible to all shipping except vessels connected to “Iran’s enemies.”

Ali Mousavi explained that transit through the waterway was achievable by coordinating security and safety protocols with Tehran.

Vessel tracking information reveals some ships, including Indian-flagged vessels and a Pakistani oil tanker, have successfully navigated the strait. However, the overwhelming majority of ships remain sheltered in port.

The United States and Israel claim their three weeks of intensive air campaigns have substantially weakened Iran’s capacity to project military power beyond its borders. Nevertheless, Tehran launched its first confirmed long-range ballistic missiles with a 4,000 km (2,500 mile) range on Friday toward a U.S.-British Indian Ocean military installation, extending the threat of attacks beyond the Middle East.

On Sunday, Iranian strikes against two southern Israeli communities wounded dozens in what an Israeli medical facility characterized as a significant casualty incident. The targeted towns were situated near Israel’s classified nuclear facility and several military bases, including Nevatim Air Base, among the country’s largest.

The conflict has unfolded alongside a separate confrontation between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, with Israel announcing Sunday that its forces had conducted raids on multiple armed group positions in southern Lebanon.

Israeli military spokesperson Brigadier General Effie Defrin informed reporters that Israel continues striking Iran continuously and anticipates “weeks more of fighting against Iran and Hezbollah.”

Hezbollah reported attacking several border regions in northern Israel. Israeli emergency responders confirmed one death at a kibbutz near the border. Israel later indicated it was investigating whether the fatality resulted from Israeli fire.

Hezbollah has launched hundreds of rockets at Israel since joining the regional conflict on March 2, triggering an Israeli offensive that has resulted in more than 1,000 Lebanese casualties.

Israel announced it had directed the military to accelerate the destruction of Lebanese residences in “frontline villages” to eliminate threats to Israelis, and to demolish all bridges crossing Lebanon’s Litani River, which it claimed were used for “terrorist activity.”