Iran vowed to deploy a policy of “zero restraint” and hit energy infrastructure across the Persian Gulf as well as banks that do business with US if President Trump carries out his threat to “obliterate” Tehran’s power plants. Iran remained defiant against the US on Sunday following Trump’s ultimatum, which demanded an end to the Islamic republic’s hostilities in the Strait of Hormuz, a key trade route that oversees the flow of 20% of the world’s oil supply. Trump gave a 48-hour deadline, which would end around 8 p.m. ET on Monday.
Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqher Qalibaf said his country would make no such concession, warning of a mass retaliatory attack that would ramp up energy costs across the world if Trump follows through. “Immediately after the power plants and infrastructure in our country are targeted, the critical infrastructure, energy infrastructure, and oil facilities throughout the region will be considered legitimate targets and will be irreversibly destroyed, and the price of oil will remain high for a long time,” Qalibaf said in a statement. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi added that the response to such an attack from the US would pale in comparison to its latest attacks on oil and gas facilities in the Middle East.
