Iran early Sunday morning responded to US President Donald Trump’s ultimatum demanding that it reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, threatening to strike all US and Israeli infrastructure across the region if its facilities came under attack.
"If Iran's fuel and energy infrastructure is attacked by the enemy, all energy, information technology, and desalination infrastructure belonging to the United States and the (Israeli) regime in the region will be targeted," a spokesperson for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, the body overseeing Iranian military operations, said in a statement quoted in Iran’s Fars news agency.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also warned that Iran would show "zero restraint" if its infrastructure was attacked.
The threat came shortly after Trump stated that Iran must reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours or face strikes on its power plants.
“If Iran doesn’t FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 HOURS from this exact point in time, the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!" the President wrote in a post on Truth Social.
In a post published about an hour earlier, Trump said that “the United States has blown Iran off of the map", rejecting analysis stating he hasn’t met the goals of the war.
“Yes I have, and weeks ahead of schedule! Their leadership is gone, their navy and air force are dead, they have absolutely no defense, and they want to make a deal. I don’t! We are weeks ahead of schedule," he wrote, adding, “Just like their incompetent Election coverage of me, The Failing New York Times always gets it wrong!"
On Friday, Trump wrote that the United States is approaching its strategic objectives in its military campaign against what he described as the “terrorist regime of Iran," signaling that American operations in the Middle East may soon wind down.
Trump’s post came after he indicated, in a conversation with reporters, that he does not want a ceasefire with Iran right now.
"I don't want to do a ceasefire. You know you don't do a ceasefire when you're literally obliterating the other side," he said.