In a message that was stunning for its crude combativeness and profanity, President Donald Trump on Easter morning renewed his threat to destroy Iranian electricity facilities and bridges unless Iran reopened the Strait of Hormuz.
鈥淭uesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran,鈥� Trump wrote a little after 8 a.m. Eastern time Sunday. 鈥淥pen the F鈥斺�攏鈥� Strait, you crazy bastards, or you鈥檒l be living in Hell 鈥� JUST WATCH. Praise be to Allah.鈥�
The president sent the message just hours after he announced the recovery of a downed airman from the mountains in Iran on Saturday night, a high-risk operation that deprived Iran of the leverage of capturing an American prisoner of war.
After five weeks of war, Trump鈥檚 threat seemed to signal a more dangerous level of brinkmanship for the global economy. Destroying Iran鈥檚 power grid could also be catastrophic for Iran鈥檚 more than 90 million people, plunging the country into darkness.
Iran鈥檚 selective blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, the crucial gateway to Persian Gulf oil and gas, has already created shortages of jet fuel and sent global oil prices surging.
A spiraling cycle of attacks and retribution involving oil and gas facilities could worsen the global energy shock.
The cycle has already begun. On Saturday, the Israeli military struck Iran鈥檚 largest petrochemical complex in Mahshahr, in southwest Iran. Those strikes were followed Sunday by Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz threatening to step up attacks on Iran鈥檚 petrochemical industry, saying the sector had brought in approximately $18 billion to support Iran鈥檚 Revolutionary Guard in the past two years.
Iran has retaliated against the relentless U.S. and Israeli bombings with strikes on Gulf energy and water facilities.
Bahrain鈥檚 Gulf Petrochemical Industries Co. said Sunday that an Iranian drone attack caused fires at several of its operational units.
Kuwaiti authorities said Sunday that drone strikes they attributed to Iran hit an oil complex in the Shuwaikh district in Kuwait City. Other Iranian strikes in Kuwait significantly damaged two power and water desalination plants, forcing the shutdown of two electricity-generating units, authorities said.
In the United Arab Emirates, several fires broke out at a petrochemical factory on Sunday, the Abu Dhabi media office said, adding that the fires were sparked by falling debris from successful air defense interceptions.
In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, Trump said he believed a deal could be reached by Monday with Iran but that failing an agreement, 鈥淚鈥檓 considering blowing everything up and taking over the oil.鈥�
The president added that Iranians who are negotiating have been granted amnesty to continue the talks. Iran has denied that it is in direct talks with the United States to end the war, but messages have been sent through Pakistani mediators.
In response to Trump鈥檚 threat that he would attack Iranian power plants and bridges, Mizan, an outlet affiliated with Iran鈥檚 judiciary, said that 鈥淚ran鈥檚 steadfastness and resistance have driven Trump to the brink of madness.鈥�
Trump also faced sharp criticism at home. On social media, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., called Trump鈥檚 Easter morning message 鈥渃ompletely, utterly unhinged.鈥�
Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., said in a text message that 鈥淎mericans don鈥檛 want their President to be profane and vulgar.鈥� He added, 鈥淧art of leadership is self-control.鈥�
Trump鈥檚 threats may be interpreted by Iran as a bluff. The president issued a 48-hour deadline in late March for Iran to reopen the waterway. But he postponed it by five days shortly after markets opened the following Monday, saying that Iran had begun to negotiate with the United States. By the end of the week, Trump had given Iranian leaders until April 6 to reach a deal.
Under the Geneva Conventions, striking power plants and bridges that are used primarily by civilians is off limits; they are not considered military targets.
Administration officials are already beginning to make the argument that hitting this type of infrastructure would not be a war crime because it is also crucial to Iran鈥檚 missile and nuclear programs.
But that argument could apply to almost any piece of civilian infrastructure, even water supplies.
Katz justified Saturday鈥檚 attack on the Mahshahr petrochemical complex on the grounds that it 鈥渄irectly serves the Iranian surface-to-surface missile production industry,鈥� and constituted a significant part of the Iranian economy that enables the government to produce the weapons it fires at Israel.
Trump鈥檚 vehement message Sunday could underscore to the Iranians how powerful a tool control of the Strait of Hormuz remains.
The constriction of oil from the Gulf, which experts have described as the largest cut to oil supplies in history, is perhaps Iran鈥檚 most effective remaining weapon after the loss of its navy, air force and much of its arsenal of missiles and launchers.
In addition to being the passageway for about 20% of global oil exports, the strait is a conduit for fertilizer and for helium, which is critical to the manufacture of semiconductors.
Iran threatened further disruptions to global trade Sunday when Ali Akbar Velayati, an adviser to Iran鈥檚 new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, said the country could close another strategic waterway, the strait of Bab al-Mandab, a narrow shipping route at the southern end of the Red Sea. During Israel鈥檚 war in the Gaza Strip, the Iranian-backed Houthi militia in Yemen struck ships in the Red Sea, causing severe disruptions to global trade.
Trump is considering a ground operation to open the Strait of Hormuz.
But it would be complex 鈥� and may well require taking the Iranian shoreline of the strait and perhaps part of the Persian Gulf.
Iran has many options to interfere with shipping 鈥� including mines and speedboats that can be used to launch shoulder-fired, short-range missiles 鈥� that might make passage risky enough that shippers will not try to run through the narrow strait.
Trump has called on European nations, China and India, all of which depend heavily on oil that moves through the strait, to join in an international coalition to keep it open.
But because none of those countries were consulted about Trump鈥檚 decision to attack Iran, and some believe the war to be illegal or unwise, they have not yet agreed to participate in what would be a high-risk effort to keep it open.
This article originally appeared in .
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