Trump gives Iran 48 hours to reopen Strait of Hormuz or face US strikes on energy infrastructure

US President Donald Trump on Saturday gave Iran 48 hours to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to shipping or face the destruction of its energy infrastructure, as Tehran launched its most destructive attack yet on Israel.

The ultimatum, issued just a day after Trump said he was considering “winding down” military operations after three weeks of war, came as the key oil passage remained effectively closed and thousands more American Marines were deployed to the Middle East.

Trump wrote on Truth Social that the United States would “hit and obliterate” Iranian power plants, “starting with the biggest one first,” if Tehran did not fully reopen the strait within 48 hours, or 23:44 GMT on Monday, according to the time of his post.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran had imposed restrictions only on vessels from countries involved in attacks against Iran, and would assist others that stayed out of the conflict.

In response to Trump’s threat, Iran’s army said it would target energy and desalination infrastructure “belonging to the US and the regime in the region,” according to the Fars news agency.

Trump’s ultimatum came hours after two Iranian missiles struck southern Israel, injuring more than 100 people in the most destructive attack since the war began. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed retaliation “on all fronts.”

First responders said 84 people were injured in the town of Arad, 10 of them seriously. Hours earlier, 33 were wounded in nearby Dimona, where AFP footage showed a large crater beside piles of rubble and twisted metal.

Dimona hosts a facility widely believed to be the site of the Middle East’s only nuclear arsenal, although Israel has never acknowledged possessing nuclear weapons.

The Israeli military told AFP there had been a “direct missile hit on a building” in Dimona, with casualties reported at multiple locations, including a 10-year-old boy in serious condition with shrapnel wounds.

In Arad, emergency crews searched through the debris of heavily damaged buildings.

Iran said the targeting of Dimona was retaliation for Israeli strikes on its Natanz nuclear facility, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps saying forces also targeted other southern Israeli towns as well as military sites in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

Following the Natanz attack, UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi renewed his call for “military restraint to avoid any risk of a nuclear accident.”

The Natanz facility houses underground centrifuges used to enrich uranium for Iran’s disputed nuclear program and sustained damage in the June 2025 war.

The Israeli military denied responsibility for the Natanz strike, but said it had hit a facility at a Tehran university that it claimed was being used to develop nuclear weapon components for Iran’s ballistic missile program.

Hormuz standoff escalates

The destruction in Israel capped three weeks of heavy US-Israeli bombardment that appeared to have done little to reduce Iran’s ability to retaliate with missile and drone attacks across the region.

Iran also launched an unsuccessful ballistic missile strike on the US-UK base at Diego Garcia, about 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) away, a UK official told AFP, which would have been its longest-range attack if successful.

The United Arab Emirates said Saturday it faced aerial threats after Iran warned it against allowing strikes from its territory on disputed islands near the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran has restricted access to the vital waterway, which carries roughly one-fifth of global crude oil trade in peacetime.

The standoff has driven crude prices higher, with North Sea Brent crude rising above $105 a barrel, raising concerns about long-term global economic fallout.

A joint statement from leaders of several countries, including the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, South Korea, Australia, the UAE, and Bahrain, condemned the “de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iranian forces.”

“We express our readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait,” the statement said.

Trump has criticized NATO allies as “cowards” and urged them to secure the waterway.

Iran shows resilience

Analysts say Iran’s leadership has endured significant losses while maintaining its strike capabilities, suggesting greater resilience than expected.

“They’re showing a lot of resilience that we didn’t perhaps expect, that the US didn’t expect, when it took this on,” Neil Quilliam of Chatham House said on the think tank’s podcast.

Tehran, meanwhile, marked the end of Ramadan as the conflict entered its fourth week.

Iran’s supreme leader traditionally leads Eid al-Fitr prayers, but Mojtaba Khamenei, who assumed power earlier this month after his father Ali Khamenei was killed, has remained out of public view.

Instead, judiciary chief Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei attended prayers at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Grand Mosque.

“The atmosphere of the New Year was spreading through the city,” said Farid, an advertising executive reached by AFP through an online message.

But “the thought that some people could be dying right at the New Year dinner table was painful,” he added.