President Donald Trump threatened Saturday to “hit and obliterate” Iranian power plants if Tehran does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours.
Trump posted at 7:44 p.m. ET on Saturday, which means his deadline expires at 7:44 p.m. ET on Monday (3:14 a.m. on Tuesday in Tehran).
The threat marks an escalation in rhetoric from Trump, who’s previously dangled the option of hitting Iranian infrastructure but cautioned it would impair the country’s ability to rebuild. And it’s a tacit acknowledgement that the strait’s closure provides Iran significant leverage.
Trump’s latest threat comes a day after he said the US is considering “winding down” military efforts in the Middle East and dismissed questions about the White House’s plan for restoring traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, saying that “at a certain point, it’ll open itself.”
It also comes after Trump said Thursday that he’d told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop attacks on Iranian oil and gas facilities.
But as gas prices have risen at home, US officials have been furiously trying to avert a potential monthslong closure of the strait, privately acknowledging that reopening the key waterway is a problem without a clear solution, CNN previously reported.
