Iran War Live Updates: As Strait Deadline Looms, Trump Repeats Threats of Infrastructure Attacks in News Conference

Iran war: Trump threatens power plants as 48-hour Hormuz deadline nears

Muhammad Asghar | GlobalBeat

President Donald Trump vowed to target Iranian power plants and oil facilities if Tehran blocks the Strait of Hormuz before a Wednesday ultimatum expires.

The warning, delivered during a chaotic 42-minute press conference in the Roosevelt Room, marks the second time in 24 hours the White House has publicly floated strikes on civilian infrastructure.

Oil markets shuddered. Brent crude jumped $2.41 to $78.63 in after-hours trading, while the Pentagon confirmed the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier group had re-entered the Persian Gulf after a brief refuel stop in Bahrain.

Tehran set the clock ticking Monday when its Revolutionary Guards seized the Marshall-Islands flagged tanker Stena Immaculate and announced any vessel bound for Israel would need 48 hours’ notice before transiting the narrow waterway. The move came days after Israeli commandos raided an Iranian weapons convoy inside Syria, killing 15 suspected arms smugglers.

Trump, flanked by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and acting CIA director Pete Hoekstra, said Iran “will lose its lights” if it interferes with global energy traffic. The president listed three Natanz-era reactors, the Bandar Abbas desalination plant and Kharg Island’s main oil terminal as “primary targets” in a 12-page strike package already loaded into Central Command computers.

“We’re not talking troops,” Trump told reporters. “We’re talking circuits, transformers, switchgear — the stuff modern life depends on.” The remarks drew immediate condemnation from European allies who fear a repeat of the 2019 Abqaiq attack that briefly knocked out half of Saudi Arabia’s production. French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot urged “maximum restraint,” warning any US bombing campaign could push world oil prices above $100.

Inside the Pentagon, staff officers questioned the legality of hitting dual-use infrastructure. “You crater a grid, hospitals go dark,” one defense official said on condition of anonymity. The White House counsel’s office argues the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force covers retaliation for threats to shipping lanes, but Speaker Mike Johnson has yet to schedule a classified briefing for rank-and-file lawmakers.

Iran’s mission to the UN dismissed Trump’s threats as “bluster from a bankrupt casino operator.” Yet state television broadcast civil-defense drills in three southern provinces Tuesday night, showing volunteers taping windows and stockpiling water. Mohammad Bagheri, chief of the armed forces general staff, said the Revolutionary Guards had deployed mobile anti-ship batteries along the northern Gulf coast and seeded “hundreds” of smart mines.

Shipping insurers reacted swiftly. The UK Club, one of five main protection-and-indemnity organizations, raised war-risk premiums for Gulf voyages to 1.25 percent of hull value, up from 0.35 percent last week. A Greek owner who asked not to be named said the increase adds roughly $400,000 to the cost of moving a standard suezmax cargo, a surcharge almost certain to ripple through global gasoline prices.

China, the largest single buyer of Iranian crude, issued its sharpest warning to date. Foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters Beijing “will not stand idly by” if US strikes threaten Chinese investments, including the $2.7 billion North Pars gas project. Analysts read the comment as a hint that China could invoke the mutual-defense clause in its 2021 strategic accord with Tehran, though diplomats privately call that unlikely.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, facing his own criminal trial, stayed silent during Trump’s remarks. But defense minister Israel Katz posted a map on X showing the Strait of Hormuz overlaid with the caption “one chokepoint, many options.” Israeli submarines routinely shadow US carrier groups, and retired naval officers say the dolphin-class boats carry cruise missiles that could reach Iranian coastal sites within minutes.

Back in Washington, oil lobbyists flooded Capitol Hill. The American Petroleum Institute circulated talking points warning that $90 crude would erase 600,000 US jobs tied to petrochemical exports. Democrats demanded tariff rebates for refiners if prices spike, while some Republicans urged faster approval of stalled pipeline projects. Senator Ted Cruz called the crisis “a self-inflicted wound from Biden-era appeasement,” ignoring that Trump himself exited the 2015 nuclear deal.

The White House scheduling office added confusion by emailing lawmakers an invite to “Operation Sentinel Storm” without explanation. Aides later claimed the subject line was auto-generated and denied any decision to launch strikes. Still, the slip fueled speculation that Trump wants a limited conflict to dominate cable news before next week’s State of the Union.

Background

The Strait of Hormuz handles roughly 21 percent of global petroleum trade, making it the world’s most sensitive energy chokepoint. Iran has threatened to close the 21-mile-wide channel since the 1980s Tanker War, when US forces escorted Kuwaiti ships re-flagged under American colors. Periodic tensions flared again in 2019 after Trump abandoned the nuclear accord and re-imposed sanctions. Mine attacks, drone downings and the brief capture of British-flagged vessels followed, yet open warfare never erupted.

Trump’s latest rhetoric revives memories of 2007, when the Bush administration drew up plans to bomb Iranian radar sites after Revolutionary Guards captured 15 Royal Navy sailors. British diplomacy secured their release within 13 days, but the Pentagon kept contingency folders active. Those blueprints, updated annually, now sit on the desk of Centcom commander General Erik Kurilla, who told senators last month his command needs “no extra forces” to execute options within 72 hours.

What’s Next

The 48-hour notice requirement expires at 6 a.m. GMT Thursday. Tanker trackers expect at least 14 laden vessels, carrying 28 million barrels, to reach Hormuz by then. If Iran demands proof of non-Israeli cargo, the US Navy will face a choice between escorting ships through Iranian waters or forcing a suspension that could send Brent toward triple digits. Congressional leaders have requested a White House briefing Thursday afternoon, though staffers say the session may be moved to a secure facility if classified targeting details are shared.

Energy traders now price a 35 percent chance of air strikes before Sunday, according to S&P Global data. Any attack risks reprisals against the 5,000 US troops stationed in Iraq and 900 in Syria, where Iranian-backed militias fired rockets at American bases twice this month. The cycle once dubbed “shadow war” is losing its shadows; the next 48 hours will show whether diplomacy can again pull both sides back.