DUBAI.– Airstrikes hit Tehran on Tuesday, as Iranian officials urged young people to form human chains to protect power plantsin the hours before ultimatum expiration set by the American president, donald trump, that requires the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz under the threat of destroying that country’s energy infrastructure.
Iranian media reported attacks on Kharg islanda nerve center from which most of the country’s oil is exported.
“The American-Zionist enemy carried out several attacks on Kharg Islandand several explosions were heard there,” indicated the Mehr press agency.
According to a message published in X by the journalist Barak Ravidfrom the North American media Axiosand which quotes a US official, Washington hit “military targets”.
Trump has repeatedly extended previous deadlines, but suggested that the one set for 8:00 p.m. in Washington (9:00 p.m. in Argentina) It was final, and the language used by both sides reached a fever pitch that left Iranians in suspense.
The Republican president has threatened to bomb all power plants and bridges in Iran if Tehran does not allow traffic to fully resume in the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s oil passes in peacetime. In response, the president of Iran said that 14 million people, including himself, have volunteered to fight.
Although Tehran cannot match the sophistication of American and Israeli weaponry nor its dominance in the air, its control of the strait is causing great damage to the world economy and increasing the pressure on Trump both at home and abroad to find a way out to the confrontation.
Officials involved in diplomatic efforts said that The talks are still continuing, although Iran rejected the last American proposal and it is unclear whether an agreement will be reached in time to avoid the attacks threatened by Trump. World leaders and experts They warned that attacks like those advanced by Trump could constitute a war crime.
Meanwhile, a wave of attacks hit the Islamic regimeincluding in residential areas of Tehran, killing almost three dozen people. Iran fired on Israel and Saudi Arabiawhich caused the temporary closure of an important bridge.
By emphasizing his Tuesday deadline, trump warned that “The whole country can be wiped out in one night.”.
“All bridges in Iran will be decimated by 12 midnight tomorrow”the North American president said on Monday, adding that all power plants will be “burning, exploding and will never be used again”.
In response, Iran called “all young people, athletes, artists, students and university students and their teachers” to form human chains around power plants.
“The power plants that are our national assets and capital”he clarified Alireza Rahimiidentified by Iranian state television as the secretary of the Supreme Council of Youth and Adolescents, in a video statement.
Iran has formed human chains in the past around their nuclear facilities at times of high tensions with the West.
For his part, the president of Iran, Masoud Pezeshkianpublished in X that 14 million Iranians had responded to state media campaigns and text messages urging people to volunteer to fight.
“I have also been, am and will continue to be ready to give my life for Iran”Pezeshkian wrote.
Later, a general in the Revolutionary Guard urged parents to send their children to cover checkpointswhich have been repeatedly targeted in airstrikes.
Trump’s threats to bomb civilian infrastructure have sparked multiple warnings about possible war crimes.
France joined a growing chorus of international voices calling for moderation. The Foreign Minister, Jean–Noël Barrothe said on television France Info that attacks directed against civil and energy infrastructure “they are prohibited by the rules of war, international law”.
The Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterresalso warned the United States that Attacks against civilian infrastructure are prohibited under international lawaccording to his spokesperson. These cases are notoriously difficult to prosecute, and Trump told reporters that he is “not at all” worried about committing war crimes and assured that the only “war crime” would be to allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons.
A series of intense airstrikes hit Tehraneven against an apparent weapons depot in the mountains and in residential neighborhoods. In the past, attacks in residential areas have targeted government officials and Iranian security forces.
The Israeli military said it had attacked an Iranian petrochemical site in Shirazthe second day in a row that a facility of that type was hit after attacking a plant in the natural gas field South Paris. At the same time, Israeli forces issued a warning in Farsi to Iranians to They will avoid taking trains throughout the daywhich likely points to planned attacks on the rail network.
Another attack hit the Khorramabad International Airport in western Iran, and an attack against an unidentified target in the Iranian province of Alborznorthwest of Tehran, killed 18 peoplestate media reported on Tuesday.
Nine people died in the city of Shahriar and another six in Pardis in other airstrikes, Iranian media reported.
Early on Tuesday, Tehran launched seven ballistic missiles at Saudi Arabiawhich, according to the authorities, caused the fall debris near energy facilities when intercepted. The spokesman for the Saudi Ministry of Defense, Major General Turki al–Malkisaid the damage was being assessed.
The attacks led the Arab country to close for several hours the King Fahd Causeway, a bridge connecting Saudi Arabia with the island kingdom of Bahrain. The 25-kilometer-long bridge is Bahrain’s only road connection –headquarters of the US Navy’s 5th Fleet– with the Arabian Peninsula.
Iran also fired on Israel, with reports of incoming missiles in Tel Aviv and Eilat.
More than 1,900 people have died in Iran since the start of the war, but the government has not updated the figure in several days.
In Lebanonwhere Israel is fighting the terrorist group Hezbollah, backed by Iran, More than 1,400 people have died and more than 1 million people have been displaced. Eleven Israeli soldiers They also died in the fighting.
In the Arab states of the Persian Gulf and the West Bank busy, more than two dozen people have diedwhile it has been reported 23 dead in Israel and 13 US soldiers dead.
Iran restricted shipping through the strait after Israel and the United States will start the war with attacks on February 28. Iranian attacks on the energy infrastructure of its Arab neighbors in the Persian Gulf, along with its control of the strait, oil prices have skyrocketedraising the price of gasoline, food and other commodities far beyond the Middle East.
In early spot trading on Tuesday, Brentthe international standard, was above $108 per barrelwith an increase of around 50% since the start of the war.
Although Iran has rejected the latest US proposal, officials involved in diplomacy say talks are still ongoing.
On Monday, Tehran rejected a 45-day ceasefire proposal and said it wants a permanent end to the war.
According to The New York TimesIran would be willing to lift the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and would impose a right of way of two million dollars per ship which would be shared with the sultanate of Omanlocated on the other side of the sea route. The proceeds would be used to rebuild infrastructure destroyed by Israeli and American attacks, instead of claiming direct compensation.
Although Trump called this proposal “very important.”“He said it is still “insufficient”.
But as the deadline approached on Tuesday, an official said indirect communications between the United States and Iran were still underway. The official said that mediators Pakistan, Egypt and Türkiye “are racing against the clock” to reach a compromise before the deadline.
He said Iran has linked the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to sanctions relief, and that The United States was open to easing some sanctionsespecially on Iran’s oil sector, partly to stabilize the world oil market. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing diplomacy.
AP and AFP Agencies
