Trump gives Iran 48-hour ultimatum to reopen Strait of Hormuz: 'Hit and obliterate'
President Donald Trump warned Saturday that the U.S. would “obliterate” Iran’s power plants if Tehran fails to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, prompting Iranian officials to threaten retaliatory strikes against U.S. and Israeli energy and infrastructure assets in the region.
Iranian student warns ‘barbaric’ regime taking nation ‘hostage,’ executing civilians
Iran has increased executions and arrests across the country as the United States continues strikes in the Middle East.
Mooné Rahimi, a student and activist previously arrested by the morality police, said the regime is using fear tactics to hold the nation "hostage."
Rahimi said on "Fox & Friends Weekend" that Iranian civilians view the ongoing war as a desperate "rescue mission" from a regime that uses arrests and executions to maintain its grip on power."
This situation that is happening in Iran, they call it [a] rescue mission, especially the people inside Iran," said Rahimi, who left Iran several years ago and is now studying in the United States.
"This barbaric, brutal regime treats women in a very intense way. If there is a protester, a woman protester, in the street of Iran, they're going to arrest them, and they're going to put them in a jail and, at the end, they're going to hang them as they're doing it like those executions that are happening," she added.
This is an excerpt of an article by Fox News Digital's Madison Colombo
Iran says it will strike US, Israeli energy sites if infrastructure is attacked: report
Iran said Sunday that any strike targeting its energy infrastructure would result in retaliatory attacks against U.S. and Israeli energy and infrastructure assets in the region.
“If Iran’s fuel and energy infrastructure is attacked by the enemy, all energy and information technology infrastructure and desalination plants belonging to the United States and the Israeli entity in the region will be targeted,” Iran said in a statement carried by state media and semi-official outlets, citing an Iranian military spokesperson.
President Donald Trump issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Iran in a post on Truth Social on Saturday, warning the U.S. would strike its power plants if the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened.
"If Iran doesn’t FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 HOURS from this exact point in time, the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!" Trump said.
The Strait of Hormuz is a global chokepoint for oil and gas transport that supplies roughly one-fifth of the world’s crude oil. Traffic through the strait has been largely limited since early March, shortly after the war with Iran began.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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