President Donald Trump on Sunday threatened once more to strike Iran’s civilian infrastructure if it does not move to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, raising the specter that the U.S. could commit what are considered to be war crimes in the country.
“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran,” he wrote on Truth Social. “There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH!”
He added, “Praise be to Allah.”
Trump issued a similar threat on Thursday, reiterating a vow from earlier in the week to strike Iran’s “Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island,” a small piece of land that nearly all of Iran’s oil exports pass through.
Experts have warned that such attacks could amount to war crimes, with international law generally forbidding attacks against civilian infrastructure like power plants and desalination plants.
Asked about the threats Monday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the U.S. “will always act within the confines of the law.”
Trump’s latest escalation in rhetoric comes just a day after he gave Iran 48 hours to reopen the Strait or face “all Hell,” with Iranian officials threatening to strike U.S. infrastructure in the Middle East in retaliation.
