The Iran War entered its 23rd day Sunday following President Donald Trump’s threat to “obliterate” Iran’s power plants unless the Strait of Hormuz opens “fully” by 7:45 PM Monday evening.
On Saturday, Trump wrote on Truth Social,
“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 speaker of Iran’s Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, responded to the threat on Sunday morning by vowing to retaliate to potential strikes on Iran’s power plants with airstrikes of its own which would “destroy in an irreversible manner…critical infrastructure, energy infrastructure, and oil facilities throughout the region.”
“The price of oil,” MB Ghalibaf warned, would “remain high for a long time.”
Gas prices remained elevated on Sunday. AAA reported the national average gas price at $3.94.
Iran’s Defense Ministry said Sunday it would continue fighting until its enemies retreated, with spokesman Reza Talaei-Nik urging the public to prepare for a prolonged war. He said that Tehran must restore deterrence to make its adversaries “regret” the conflict.
Iranian missiles landed Saturday in the southern city of Dimona, home to the country’s main nuclear facility and birthplace of Israel’s nuclear weapons program. A second ballistic missile attack occurred in Adad, southern Israel, reportedly hitting a residential building. The Israeli Ministry of Health says at least 180 people were wounded by the attacks.
Iran claimed to have downed an F-15 fighter jet on Sunday morning over its southern coast.
Iran launched two ballistic missiles on Friday toward Diego Garcia, the remote Indian Ocean island hosting a joint U.K.-U.S. military base, but neither struck the target, according to the Wall Street Journal. The U.K. condemned what it called Iran’s “reckless attacks,” though it remains unclear how close the missiles came to the island, about 2,500 miles from Iran.
The Iranian Red Crescent said on Sunday that U.S. and Israeli strikes have destroyed or damaged about 81,000 civilian sites across Iran, including more than 61,000 homes and 19,000 commercial units, while Iran’s Health Ministry said 208 children and 234 women have been killed since the war began. They did not provide a total death toll.
Speaking from the site of the attack in Arad on Sunday morning, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on more countries to participate in the American-Israeli war with Iran. “It’s time for world leaders to join us, and I’m seeing movement from some in that direction.”
On Sunday morning, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz gave orders to “accelerate the destruction of Lebanese homes” in southern Lebanon, declaring that the Israeli campaign will follow the “model in Gaza,” citing the mass destruction that was done to the towns of Beit Hanoun and Rafah, specifically.
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