With a U.S. deadline rapidly approaching, Iran urged its citizens to prepare for potential conflict Tuesday as President Donald Trump threatened massive bombing of the country’s infrastructure if it does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz to shipping traffic. Iran’s president said 14 million people have volunteered to fight in case of a ground invasion.
Trump’s Ultimatum to Iran
Trump has threatened to bomb all of Iran’s power plants and bridges if Iran does not meet his Tuesday 8 p.m. ET deadline to allow shipping traffic to fully resume through the strategic waterway, through which a fifth of the world’s oil transits in peacetime. “The entire country can be taken out in one night,” Trump said, adding he had already given Iran enough extra time.
Renewed American and Israeli airstrikes hit targets across Iran well before the deadline, killing nearly three dozen people. Israel’s military said it had attacked an Iranian petrochemical site in Shiraz, following a strike the previous day on an offshore plant at the South Pars natural gas field. Israel also issued a Farsi-language warning telling Iranians to avoid trains, likely telegraphing intended strikes on the rail network.
Another strike hit the Khorramabad International Airport in western Iran, and a strike on an unidentified target in Alborz province, northwest of Tehran, killed 18 people, according to state media.
Israel Warns Iranians to Avoid Trains
Israel’s military warned Iranians in Farsi to avoid taking trains throughout the day, likely telegraphing intended strikes on the rail network. “Your presence puts your life at risk,” the warning posted on X read.
Iran choked off shipping through the Strait of Hormuz after Israel and the U.S. attacked on Feb. 28, starting the conflict. Tehran rejected a 45-day ceasefire proposal Monday and said it wants a permanent end to the war.
With the deadline hours away, President Masoud Pezeshkian posted on X that 14 million Iranians had answered state media and text message campaigns urging people to volunteer to fight in case of a ground invasion by the U.S. and Israel — double previous figures. “More than 14 million Iranian people have declared their readiness to sacrifice their lives,” Pezeshkian wrote. “I too have been, am, and will remain ready to give my life for Iran.”
Iran Strikes Saudi Arabia
Early Tuesday, Tehran launched seven ballistic missiles at Saudi Arabia, which authorities said rained debris on the ground near energy facilities as they were intercepted. Defence Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki said the damage was being assessed.
The attacks prompted Saudi Arabia to close the King Fahd Causeway, a bridge that links Saudi Arabia to Bahrain for several hours. The 25-kilometre bridge is the only road connection for Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, to the Arabian Peninsula.
Elsewhere, activists reported a new wave of strikes on Tehran, for which Israel later claimed responsibility. Nine people were killed in the city of Shahriar and six more in Pardis in other airstrikes, Iranian media reported.
Iran also fired on Israel, with reports of incoming missiles in Tel Aviv and Eilat.
Iran’s attacks on the energy infrastructure of its Gulf Arab neighbours, coupled with its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, has sent oil prices skyrocketing and is causing global economic problems. In early spot trading, Brent crude, the international standard, was above $111 US per barrel, up more than 50 per cent since the start of the war.
Under growing pressure at home, Trump has demanded that Iran open the Strait of Hormuz or see power plants and bridges wiped out. The threat to hit civilian infrastructure has sparked widespread warnings about possible war crimes.
Iran has formed human chains around its nuclear sites in the past during times of heightened tensions with the West. A Revolutionary Guard general urged parents to send their children to man checkpoints, which have been repeatedly targeted in airstrikes.
UN Secretary General António Guterres warned the U.S. that attacks on civilian infrastructure are banned under international law, according to his spokesperson. Trump, speaking with reporters, said he’s “not at all” concerned about committing war crimes with such attacks.
As the deadline neared, efforts were still underway to reach a negotiated solution. Even though Iran has rejected the latest proposal from the U.S., officials involved in the diplomacy say that talks are still ongoing.
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