Deadline for Trump's ultimatum nears as Iran vows retaliation if power plants destroyed
Smoke rises following a strike on the Bapco Oil Refinery, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, on Sitra Island Bahrain, March 9, 2026 PHOTO: REUTERS
Iran on Monday faces a deadline by President Donald Trump to open up the crucial Strait of Hormuz or face a major US assault on power plants, as Israel warned of weeks more of war.
Israel also gave the clearest signs, yet it intends a ground campaign into Lebanon, destroying a key bridge as it vows to crush Hezbollah, the Shia Muslim movement backed by Iran.
Trump, after enthusiastically backing Israel in the war the two countries launched on February 28, is under political pressure as fuel prices rise, the result of Iran's attempts to retaliate in the oil-rich Gulf.
Trump on Saturday threatened to "obliterate" Iran's power plants if it did not, within 48 hours, end its partial blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway into the Gulf through which one-fifth of the world's oil flows.
PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH. pic.twitter.com/KfFqefMrId
The deadline, based on the time of his social media posting, would be 23:44 GMT, early morning Tuesday in Iran and Monday evening in Washington.
Iran's military command responded defiantly, saying that if Trump goes ahead, it would strike Israel's "power plants, energy, information and communications technology infrastructure" — along with power plants in regional countries hosting US bases and companies with American shareholders.
The statement seemingly retracted earlier threats to desalination plants in the region, which are crucial for providing drinking water in Gulf countries.
"The lying ... US President has claimed that the Revolutionary Guards intend to attack the water desalination plants and cause hardship to the people of the countries in the region," the statement shared on state media said.
On Saturday, US President Donald Trump warned that Iranian power plants would be targeted if Tehran failed to "fully open" the Strait of Hormuz to all shipping within 48 hours.
"We are determined to respond to any threat at the same level as it creates in terms of deterrence ... If you hit electricity, we hit electricity," the Revolutionary Guards said.
"If the United States' threats regarding Iran's power plants are carried out... the Strait of Hormuz will be completely closed, and it will not be reopened until our destroyed power plants are rebuilt," a process that could take years, the operational command warned.
Iran's powerful parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned that vital infrastructure across the region would "be considered legitimate targets and will be irreversibly destroyed".
And the energy minister said US-Israeli strikes have already inflicted "heavy damage" on Iran's water and energy infrastructure.
After more than three weeks of heavy US and Israeli bombardment that officials say has sharply reduced Iran’s missile capabilities, Tehran has continued to demonstrate its ability to strike back.
Air raid sirens sounded across parts of northern and central Israel, including in Tel Aviv, and the occupied West Bank overnight on Sunday, warning of incoming missiles from Iran.
The Israeli military said early Monday it had begun a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting Iranian infrastructure in Tehran.
JUST IN 🇮🇷🇺🇸: Israel has begun Strikes on Iran's Infrastructure
There are reports of large blasts and some blackouts in Tehran. It seems Israel did not want to wait for the 48-hour timeline.
I would expect infrastructure strikes on Israel from Iran. Here are some places that… https://t.co/GQXUT5NugL pic.twitter.com/RBGwOhshQfIranian news agencies said at least one child was killed and several people were injured in the bombing of a residential area in western Khorramabad city.
A residential neighbourhood in the northwestern city of Urmia was damaged by an air strike, Iranian news agencies reported. Iranian Red Crescent rescuers were shown in a video searching for survivors. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Trump's threats drew rare concern from exiled Iranians supportive of the war, launched weeks after the Islamic Republic crushed widespread demonstrations, killing thousands of people.
Reza Pahlavi, son of the late shah, ousted in the 1979 Islamic revolution, called on Washington and Israel to target the "apparatus of repression" but to protect "Iran's civilian and vital infrastructure, which our people need to rebuild the country".
Trump has offered varying timelines and objectives for the war, saying Friday he was considering "winding down" the operation, a day before his threat to power plants, which would mark a significant escalation.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spoken of a long-term campaign against Iran's government, a rare state sponsor of Hamas, which carried out the unprecedented October 7, 2023, attack against Israel, which responded by devastating Gaza.
"Citizens of Israel, we face more weeks of fighting against Iran and Hezbollah," Israeli military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said.
In Lebanon, where Israel occupied a southern section for 18 years until 2000, Israeli forces were given orders to destroy bridges they said were used by Hezbollah to cross the key Litani river, 30 kilometres (20 miles) north of the border.
More than 1,000 people have died in Lebanon since Israel launched strikes, according to the health ministry, with more than one million people displaced.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun warned that the bridge attacks "represent a dangerous escalation and flagrant violation of Lebanon's sovereignty, and are considered a prelude to a ground invasion".
But the country's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam also blamed Hezbollah, which began firing on Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei in the beginning of the war.
"It was declared that this war was in retaliation for the assassination of Khamenei, so this means this war was imposed upon us," Salam told the Al Hadath network.
Israel has prided itself on air defences, and Trump and Netanyahu both claim to have knocked out key Iranian military sites.
But Iranian missiles on Saturday managed to land in two southern towns including Dimona, close to Israel's desert nuclear facility. Dozens were injured.
"We thought we were safe," Galit Amir, a 50-year-old care provider, told AFP in Dimona. "We didn't expect this."
AFP journalists heard blasts early Sunday in Jerusalem as Iran fired a fresh barrage of missiles.
Netanyahu vowed to pursue senior commanders of Iran's Revolutionary Guards "personally" as he inspected the damage in Arad, the other town struck by an Iranian missile.
According to rescuers, a missile landed about five kilometres from what is widely believed to be the Middle East's only nuclear arsenal, although Israel has never admitted to possessing nuclear weapons, insisting the site is for research.
Iran said the Dimona strike was in response to an earlier attack on its nuclear site at Natanz.
Asked about Natanz, Israel's military said it was "not aware of a strike".
In Iran, at least 3,230 people have died in the war, including 1,406 civilians, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. AFP is not able to access the sites of strikes nor independently verify tolls in Iran.
China warns of 'vicious cycle'
China has urged all parties involved in the Middle East conflict affecting the Strait of Hormuz to end military operations to prevent a "vicious cycle" and return to negotiations.
"Should hostilities continue to escalate and the situation deteriorate further, the entire region will be plunged into chaos," the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said when responding to a question about US President Donald Trump pressuring Iran to reopen the key shipping waterway.
"The use of force will only lead to a vicious cycle," he said adding that the war should not have begun in the first place.