TEHRAN: Iran threatened on Sunday (Mar 22) to attack key infrastructure across the Middle East if US President Donald Trump follows through on his vow to “obliterate” the Islamic republic’s power plants unless the Strait of Hormuz swiftly reopens.
Iran’s defiant response came after its missiles slipped through air defences and struck two towns in southern Israel including one housing a nuclear facility, underscoring Tehran’s continued ability to retaliate as the war entered its fourth week.
Trump ratcheted up pressure on Iran’s leadership, announcing a countdown over the Islamic republic’s de facto blockade on the crucial trade route.
Trump wrote on Truth Social that the US would “hit and obliterate” Iranian power plants “starting with the biggest one first” if Tehran did not fully reopen the strait within 48 hours, or 11.44pm GMT on Monday, according to the time of his post.
But Iran’s military operational command responded that if the country’s facilities were hit, “all energy, information technology and desalination infrastructure belonging to the US” in the region would be targeted.
Early Sunday morning, AFP journalists in Jerusalem heard blasts and air raid sirens as Iran launched a fresh barrage of missiles at Israel.
The alerts came hours after direct hits on the towns of Arad and Dimona wounded more than 100 people, in one of the most destructive attacks on Israel since the start of the war on Feb 28.
“There was a ‘boom, boom!’, my mother was screaming,” 17-year-old Arad resident Ido Franky told AFP near the impact site, where an AFP correspondent saw three damaged buildings and firefighters reported a blaze.
“This was terrifying … this town had never seen anything like this.”