UNITED State President Donald Trump has threatened to target Iran’s major power plants if Tehran fails to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours.
In a strongly worded social media post on Saturday, Trump said the US would “obliterate” Iran’s energy infrastructure if the vital waterway critical to global oil and gas shipments is not reopened without threat.
“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!” Trump said on social media.
The ICIR reports that the Strait of Hormuz remains largely disrupted amid fears of Iranian attacks, choking a passage that handles roughly 20 per cent of global oil and liquefied natural gas flows. The near shutdown has already shaken global markets, with European gas prices surging significantly in recent days, raising concerns of a broader energy crisis.
In Nigeria, rising energy prices are fueling inflation concerns, as Dangote Petroleum Refinery has again raised the ex-depot price of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) to N1,245 per litre, intensifying pressure on Nigeria’s downstream market.
The latest adjustment, effective from midnight on Saturday, marks the fourth upward review by the refinery in March alone, as PMS prices have risen rapidly from about N774 earlier in the month to N875, N995, N1,175, and now N1,245 per litre.
Trump’s ultimatum marks a sharp shift in tone, coming barely 24 hours after the US leader suggested a possible de-escalation of the conflict.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters responded with a warning of its own, saying any US strike on its energy infrastructure would trigger attacks on American energy, IT, and desalination facilities across the region.
The standoff follows a chain of retaliatory strikes. After an Israeli attack on Iran’s key gas field, Tehran struck Qatar’s Ras Laffan Industrial City, a major global LNG hub, causing damage expected to take years to repair.
According to Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir, Iran had, for the first time, deployed long-range missiles capable of reaching European capitals such as Berlin, Paris, and Rome, signalling a potential widening of the potential reach of attacks beyond the Middle East, even as a separate Iranian strike left dozens injured near one of Israel’s nuclear facilities.
Zamir said that Iran has also reportedly launched two ballistic missiles with a range of 4,000 km (2,500 miles) toward the US-British military base at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, underscoring the growing regional threat, noting that this is the first time Iran had used long-range missiles since the United States and Israel began attacking Iran on February 28.
According to Reuters, the conflict which is now in its fourth week, has claimed over 2,000 lives, with dozens more injured in recent strikes on southern Israel, including in Dimona and Arad areas near sensitive military installations.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the situation as “a very difficult evening,” vowing continued military action.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.