Trump threatens to start ‘demolishing’ Iran’s infrastructure without deal – National
US President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to destroy Iran’s energy sources and other critical infrastructure if an agreement to end the war with Tehran is not reached soon.
In a social media post, Trump said “substantial progress is being made” in talks with Iran to end military operations. But he stressed that if an agreement is not reached and if the strategic Hormuz Strait is not reopened immediately, the US will increase its offensive by “completely eliminating its Power Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalination plants!).”
On the ground, the war showed no sign of letting up: Tehran hit a key water and electricity facility in Kuwait, and an oil refinery in Israel was attacked.
Israel and the US launched a new wave of strikes on Iran. It is not clear where the cooperation effort is being driven by Pakistan.
Iran’s attacks on its Gulf neighbors could add another element of uncertainty to any negotiations.
The United Arab Emirates – which has long billed itself as a beacon of security and stability in a volatile region – has been hit hard by the war, and has increasingly signaled that it wants Iran disarmed from any ceasefire. Iran’s democratic regime is unlikely to accept that.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Trump said his choice would be to “take oil from Iran” – a move that would require the capture of Kharg Island – the port through which almost all of Iran’s oil passes.
“Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don’t,” he continued. “We have many options.”
And in the interview, Trump said the US had about 3,000 targets it still wanted to hit in Iran, but added: “A deal can be done quickly.”
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One last Sunday that the US was negotiating “directly or indirectly” with Iran.
“We’re doing very well in those negotiations but you never know with Iran because we’re negotiating with them and we have to keep blowing them up,” Trump said.
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Twice during Trump’s second term, the US attacked Iran in the midst of negotiations, with the February 28 strikes that started the current war and in June.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei on Monday acknowledged that Tehran has been given a 15-point proposal by the Trump administration, but said there have been no direct talks with Washington so far.
Earlier, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, dismissed Pakistan’s talks as a cover for getting more US troops in the region. He said the Iranian military was “waiting for the arrival of American troops on the ground to fire and punish their regional allies forever,” according to state media.
The US has already launched one airstrike targeting military positions in Kharg. Iran has threatened to attack the Gulf Arab countries and mine the Persian Gulf if US troops arrive in its territory.
Getting an invasion force to Kharg would mean passing through the Strait of Hormuz and much of the Persian Gulf. Experts say that holding this island can also be a challenge, because in addition to its missiles and drones, it can be among the weapons from the country of Iran.
Sirens sounded early in the morning near Israel’s main nuclear research facility, a part of the country that has been targeted several times in recent days. The Israeli military also said it had taken out two drones launched in Yemen, where Iran-backed Houthi rebels entered the conflict on Saturday with their first missile attack.
Later, a fire broke out at an oil refinery in the northern city of Haifa, one of only two in Israel, possibly caused by rockets or debris that fell on roadblocks. The fire was quickly extinguished.
Iran continued to pressure its Gulf Arab neighbors, as Saudi Arabia intercepted five missiles aimed at its oil-rich eastern province, Bahrain sounded a missile warning, and a fireball erupted over Dubai as an incoming missile was intercepted.
In Kuwait, an Iranian attack hit a power plant and desalination plant, killing one worker and wounding 10 soldiers, KUNA news agency reported.
Desalination plants are important to the Gulf Arab states, and the Iranian invasion damaged the desalination plant in Bahrain during the war. The buildings are often paired with power plants, due to the large amount of energy required to desalinate water for drinking.
The Israeli military has launched a new wave of attacks on Iran, claiming “military infrastructure” throughout Tehran, and explosions have been heard in the Iranian capital. Iranian media reported that a petrochemical plant in Tabriz, in the north, was damaged after an airstrike and firefighters had to put out the fire.
Iran confirmed on Monday that the head of the Revolutionary Guard navy, Rear Adm. Alireza Tangsiri, was killed in an Israeli airstrike, as Israel said last week.
In Lebanon, where Israel launched a ground attack, an Indonesian peacekeeper was killed and three others wounded when a bomb exploded near a southern village.
Over the weekend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military would increase its offensive, expanding the existing “security zone” in the country’s south as he targeted the Iran-linked Hezbollah terror group.
In Iran, authorities say more than 1,900 people have been killed, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel.
22 people were killed in the Gulf and West Bank regions. In Lebanon, officials said more than 1,200 people have been killed, and more than a million displaced.
Six Israeli soldiers were killed in Lebanon, and 13 US service members were killed in action.
Oil prices are rising again as concerns about the global energy crisis grow
Iran’s attacks on the region’s energy infrastructure and its seizure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil is shipped in peacetime, have sent oil prices soaring and raised concerns about a global energy crisis.
In early trading, the price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, was around $115, up nearly 60 percent since the US and Israel went to war over the attack on Iran on February 28.
As pressure grew on Trump to end the conflict, the US presented Iran with a 15-point plan that included agreeing to open the Strait of Hormuz to shipping. Iran, meanwhile, has produced a five-point plan with its own conditions, including maintaining its sovereignty over a key waterway.
