Trump: We Will Destroy Iran's Power Plants If Iran Doesn't Open Hormuz Within 48 Hours

The United States will destroy Iranian power plants if the Strait of Hormuz is not fully opened within 48 hours, US President Donald Trump warned on Saturday evening local time.

“If Iran does not COMPLETELY OPEN, WITHOUT ANY THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz within 48 HOURS from this exact moment, the United States of America will destroy its various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE LARGEST!” – Trump wrote on his Truth Social website. His entry shows that his ultimatum will expire just before 1 a.m. Polish time from Monday to Tuesday.

In response to Trump's tweet, the Iranian authorities announced that if the US carries out its threats, Iran will respond with attacks on all energy, IT and desalination infrastructure facilities belonging to the US and Israel in the region.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to destroy Iran's power plants – including a nuclear power plant – claiming that in an hour he could cause so much destruction that the country would not be able to recover from it. However, the president then emphasized that he was “nice” and did not do it.

– I could do it in the next hour. You would read about the decommissioning of nuclear power plants or power plants that produce electricity, that produce water. There are desalination machines everywhere, he said in an interview last week on Fox News Radio.

This is yet another U-turn by the president on the Strait of Hormuz. On Friday, he suggested that he was very close to achieving all his goals in Iran, announcing that the US did not need the strait and would hand over responsibility for it to the countries that use the oil exported through it. He previously emphasized that NATO countries could easily unblock traffic through the strait and that it would be a “very simple maneuver” with very little risk.

The largest power plant in Iran is the gas power plant in Demavenda near Tehran, with a capacity of approx. 2.8 thousand. MW. The largest plants also include hydroelectric power plants in Khuzestan province. There is also one nuclear power plant in Iran, in Bushehr, with a capacity of 1,000 MW.

Iran is blocking traffic through the strait, which is crucial for the transportation of crude oil, in response to the attack on this country by the United States and Israel on February 28. Iranian forces repeatedly attacked tankers, although they allowed some ships to pass, including related to China and India, or own tankers. Media reports, including: CNN, also talked about placing mines there.

From Washington Oskar Górzyński (PAP)

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