Iran Officials Warn of Regional Energy Infrastructure Destruction If Power Plants Targeted

Multiple senior Iranian officials issued stark warnings in response to US President Trump's threat to destroy Iran's power plants if the Strait of Hormuz is not fully opened within 48 hours. Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, warned on his X account that any attack on Iran's power plants would trigger immediate retaliation: "Immediately after targeting power plants and infrastructure in our country, critical infrastructure and energy and oil infrastructure throughout the region will be considered legitimate targets and will be irreversibly destroyed." He added that oil prices would "remain higher for a long time." The spokesperson for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, in a video message in Arabic on Sunday (2nd of Farvardin), claimed that if any attack is launched from UAE territory against Iran's three islands in the Persian Gulf, the Islamic Republic would deliver "direct and crushing blows," targeting any source it considers a "threat to its territorial integrity." First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref also stated that striking Iran's infrastructure would cause a "widespread blackout in the region," adding: "We will determine when and how the war ends." Earlier, Trump had threatened that if Iran does not open the Strait of Hormuz "completely and without threat" within 48 hours, the US would "destroy" Iran's power plants, starting with the largest. The Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters spokesman had previously declared that if Trump's threat is carried out, "all US and regime energy, IT and desalination infrastructure in the region will be targeted."