Dubai: Saudi Arabia closed the only road linking it to Bahrain Tuesday after Iran fired missiles at its oil-rich Eastern Province. Tehran’s latest strikes came as Iranian officials urged youths to form human chains around power plants to protect them, as the latest deadline set by US President Donald Trump for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz drew closer.
Trump has threatened to bomb all of Iran’s power plants and bridges if Iran does not meet his Tuesday 8 pm EDT 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.
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 after Israel and the US attacked Feb. 28, starting the war. Tehran rejected a 45-day ceasefire proposal and said it wants a permanent end to the war monday.
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.
In the meantime, Saudi Arabia said it was closing the King Fahd Causeway, a bridge that links Saudi Arabia to the island kingdom of Bahrain, over the threat of more Iranian attacks targeting the Eastern Province.
The 25-kilometre (15.5-mile) bridge is the only connection by road for Bahrain, home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, to the Arabian Peninsula.
Elsewhere, activists reported a new wave of strikes on Tehran, for which Israel later claimed responsibility. Iran also fired on Israel, with reports of incoming missiles.
Trump’s threats to bomb civilian infrastructure prompt warnings of war crimes
Iran’s attacks on the energy infrastructure of its Gulf Arab neighbours, coupled with its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, have sent oil prices skyrocketing and are causing global economic problems.
In early spot trading, Brent crude, the international standard, was above $111 per barrel, up more than 50 per cent since the start of the war.
Under growing pressure at home as consumers feel the pinch, Trump has demanded that Iran open the Strait of Hormuz to all shipping traffic or see power plants and bridges wiped out. The threat to hit civilian infrastructure has sparked widespread warnings about possible war crimes.
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon Tuesday urged Trump not to follow through, saying the “focus needs to be on not seeing this conflict expand any further.”
“Any of those actions, including bombing bridges and reservoirs and civilian infrastructure, would be unacceptable,” Luxon told Radio New Zealand.
Iran sought to up the ante, calling on “all young people, athletes, artists, students, university students and their professors” to form human chains around power plants ahead of the threatened strikes.
“Power plants that are our national assets and capital, regardless of any taste or political viewpoint, belong to the future of Iran and to the Iranian youth,” Alireza Rahimi, identified by Iranian state television as the secretary of the Supreme Council of Youth and Adolescents, said as he issued the video call in a newscast.
Iran has formed human chains in the past around its nuclear sites at times of heightened tensions with the West.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the US 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 US, officials involved in the diplomacy say that talks are still ongoing.
The death toll continues to rise across the region
More than 1,900 people have been killed in Iran since the war began, but the government has not updated the toll for days.
More than 1,400 people have been killed in Lebanon, and more than 1 million people have been displaced. Eleven Israeli soldiers have died there.
In Gulf Arab states and the occupied West Bank, more than two dozen people have died, while 23 have been reported dead in Israel, and 13 US service members have been killed.
Japan said Tuesday that one of its citizens who had been detained in Iran since January had been released on bail. Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara told reporters in Tokyo that Japan is demanding his full release from Iranian authorities.
