New York, Mar 22 (EFE).- Iran and the United States exchanged stark warnings of military escalation centered on the Strait of Hormuz, with Tehran threatening to target US energy infrastructure if Washington follows through on plans to strike Iranian power plants.
This has raised the specter of a wider regional conflict involving the Middle East that is in the grip of a war between the US and Israel and Iran.
Iran will attack US energy facilities if its own power plants are bombed, Iranian media reported Sunday, citing Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesman for Iran’s Joint Armed Forces Command.
He also warned that desalination plants and information technology infrastructure linked to the United States and Israel in the region could be targeted in retaliation.
The warning came hours after US President Donald Trump said Washington could launch strikes on Iran’s power infrastructure if Tehran does not “fully” reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours.
“If Iran does not fully open, without threats, the Strait of Hormuz within 48 HOURS from this precise moment, the United States will attack and destroy its various power plants, starting with the largest,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
In a similar message issued Saturday, Trump said the United States would “hit and obliterate” Iranian power plants if access to the strategic waterway is not restored.
The escalating rhetoric follows US military action earlier this week targeting an underground coastal arsenal in Iran, which Washington said had weakened Tehran’s ability to threaten shipping in the strait.
According to US Central Command, the site stored anti-ship cruise missiles and related equipment.
In a video statement, commander Brad Cooper said the operation involved heavy ordnance and also struck radar systems and intelligence facilities supporting Iran’s maritime capabilities.
The Strait of Hormuz, the only maritime link between the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean, carries about 20 percent of global crude oil exports, making it one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints.
Since the conflict began, actions by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard against vessels linked to the United States and Israel have sharply reduced tanker traffic through the strait, contributing to rising global oil prices.
Trump has urged NATO allies and key Asian partners such as Japan and South Korea—both heavily dependent on Middle Eastern oil—to support efforts to secure the waterway, though none has so far committed military assets.
The conflict involving the United States and Israel against Iran, which began on February 28 following the assassination of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is nearing the one-month mark, with Washington yet to clarify how long it expects hostilities to continue. EFE
asg-jacb-sk
