On a Monday, a president who had spent a month trying to bend a war toward a deal put his leverage in writing: Kharg Island, the oil wells, the power plants, and perhaps the desalination works that keep Gulf cities alive would be destroyed unless Tehran agreed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Such threats belong to an old human pattern, in which the most vulnerable pay for quarrels between the powerful, and the people who build water and light are rarely the ones who fired the first shot. Lawyers and experts warn that striking these civilian systems could be a war crime, while markets and minis
Trump Threatens to Destroy Iran's Kharg Island and Power Grid as Oil Prices Surge
UN peacekeepers were killed in south Lebanon, a Lebanese soldier died in an airstrike, and an Indian worker died in a Kuwait power station and desalination plant strike.
A few minutes at a cafe table, then back to the weight of war
Mark
Why does Kharg Island matter so much in this threat?
Mimi
It's Iran's crude export hub. Threatening it, along with oil wells and power plants, puts Iran's economic lifeline and its civilian infrastructure in the same sentence.
Mark
And the war crime warning?
Luke
That's experts' assessment, not a ruling. The reporting says destroying civilian power and water facilities would be illegal and could constitute a war crime. Nobody has tested that, because nothing has been struck yet on those terms.
Mark
Oil is already up sharply.
Mimi
Brent is up nearly 60 percent this month and WTI by more than half. The warning is that a ground operation could push toward the 2008 peak near $150.
Luke
That's market experts' projection, a risk scenario, not a forecast we can treat as settled.
Mark
Are talks actually happening?
Mimi
Trump says he's in direct contact with senior Iranian figures. Rubio hopes they can deliver.
Luke
But those figures are unnamed, and Iran's foreign ministry denies any negotiations, saying it received only a request via intermediaries. Both claims are attributed, and neither is verified here.
Mark
What does Tehran look like meanwhile?
Mimi
Cafes open, no reported shortages, checkpoints everywhere. Fatemeh described a few minutes of normality before returning to the weight of war.
El Pulso
- Trump has threatened to obliterate Kharg Island, Iran's oil lifeline, along with power plants and possibly desalination plants, unless Tehran quickly accepts a deal.
- Brent crude has surged nearly 60 percent this month, sending alarm through markets and pushing governments to cut fuel taxes and urge energy saving.
- Iran's parliament has moved to impose tolls on Hormuz shipping, and Tehran denies any talks, calling the American offer a smokescreen.
- Strikes are spreading across Gulf states, Lebanon and Iran, with an Indian worker killed in Kuwait and UN peacekeepers dead in the south of Lebanon.
- Egypt is pleading for a halt, while the Houthis threaten Red Sea shipping and US marines and paratroopers move into the region, raising the risk of a ground assault on Kharg Island.
On a Monday, a president who had spent a month trying to bend a war toward a deal put his leverage in writing: Kharg Island, the oil wells, the power plants, and perhaps the desalination works that keep Gulf cities alive would be destroyed unless Tehran agreed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Such threats belong to an old human pattern, in which the most vulnerable pay for quarrels between the powerful, and the people who build water and light are rarely the ones who fired the first shot. Lawyers and experts warn that striking these civilian systems could be a war crime, while markets and ministers in distant capitals brace for the consequences. The coming days will show whether a threat becomes an operation, or whether the murky channels of diplomacy can still find a way out.
On Monday, President Donald Trump posted a warning on Truth Social: unless Tehran quickly accepts a deal to end the war, American forces will destroy Kharg Island, Iran's crude export hub, along with its oil wells and power plants. In the same message he spoke hopefully of talks with what he called a more reasonable regime, though a month of war has not toppled the Islamic republic. The deal he wants includes reopening the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil passes. He also threatened the desalination plants, a warning that experts say would violate international humanitarian law and could amount to a war crime.
Tehran shows no sign of yielding. Its parliament has voted to impose tolls on ships crossing Hormuz, and state television says the United States and Israel will be barred from the strait. Iran has warned it could strike energy and water facilities in Gulf states hosting American forces. Oil markets have reacted sharply, with Brent up nearly 60 percent this month, and analysts fear a ground operation or wider retaliation could send prices back toward the record levels of 2008. The Houthis, who have fired missiles at Israel, are now seen as a threat to Red Sea shipping.
The human cost is mounting across the region. In Kuwait, a strike on a power station and desalination plant killed an Indian worker. In south Lebanon, UN peacekeepers have died in recent days, and a Lebanese soldier was killed in an airstrike on a checkpoint. In Tehran, cafes have reopened and shops are stocked, though checkpoints line the streets. Egypt's president has begged Trump to help stop the war, while Iranian officials dismiss the talk of negotiations as a smokescreen. Whether Washington moves on Kharg Island, and whether the contested talks become real, remain the questions that will decide what comes next.
On Monday, US President Donald Trump posted a warning on his Truth Social network: unless Tehran quickly accepts a deal to end the US-Israeli war, American forces will destroy Kharg Island, Iran's crude oil export hub, along with its oil wells and power plants. In the same post he expressed hope about talks with what he called a "more reasonable regime" in Tehran. That appeared to refer to new leadership, even though a month of war has not dislodged the Islamic republic.
The deal Trump wants would include reopening the Strait of Hormuz, the shipping lane through which one-fifth of the world's oil passes. If it is not struck, he wrote, the US would destroy "all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!)." Experts say that attacking civilian power and water facilities would be illegal under international humanitarian law and could amount to a war crime. Iran has already said it could retaliate against energy and desalination infrastructure in Gulf Arab states that host US forces, including the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The prospect of a US ground operation to seize Kharg Island has unsettled financial and energy markets and Gulf neighbours alike.
Tehran showed no sign of backing down. An Iranian parliamentary committee voted to impose tolls on vessels passing through Hormuz, and state television said the United States and Israel would be barred from the strait. Washington has spoken of forming a coalition to oppose the plan. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Al-Jazeera that no one in the world can accept it, and warned that it sets a precedent in which nations could take over international waterways and claim them as their own. Trump recently called the strait the "Strait of Trump."
The economic effects are spreading. Economy ministers and central bankers from the G7 met in Paris to discuss the war's consequences, as many countries introduce energy-saving measures or cut fuel taxes to ease the burden on consumers. Brent crude has risen nearly 60 percent this month, and US benchmark WTI by more than half. Market experts warn that a US ground operation or wider Iranian retaliation could push prices toward levels last seen in July 2008, when Brent came close to $150 a barrel. Chris Weston, an analyst at Pepperstone, named a new key risk: the Houthis' ability to disrupt shipping through the Bab al-Mandeb strait, which accounts for roughly 12 percent of global trade. The Iran-backed Yemeni rebels fired missiles and drones at Israel over the weekend and have previously threatened Red Sea and Suez traffic.
Fighting continued on several fronts. Israel said it struck military infrastructure across Tehran, including Imam Hossein University, which it said the Revolutionary Guards used for advanced weapons research, and that its air defences responded to missiles launched from Iran. Emergency services reported a fire at an oil refinery in Haifa, which also burned on March 19. Kuwait condemned strikes on a power station and a desalination plant that killed an Indian worker. In Lebanon, Israel kept bombarding Beirut's southern suburbs and the south, where an airstrike on an army checkpoint killed a soldier. The UN peacekeeping force there said two of its personnel died Monday in an explosion of unknown origin, a day after another peacekeeper was killed. Indonesia confirmed that one of its soldiers had died.
Diplomacy remains murky. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, whose country is mediating indirect US-Iran contacts, appealed to Trump at a Cairo press conference with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides: "Please, help us to stop the war, you are capable of it." Egypt's foreign minister met counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan in Islamabad on Sunday. Trump says he is in direct contact with senior Iranian figures he has not named. Rubio spoke of "fractures" in the Iranian system and hoped those figures have the "power to deliver." Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei again denied any negotiations, saying Washington had only sent a request to talk through intermediaries including Pakistan. Iranian leaders call the offer a smokescreen while thousands of US marines and paratroopers move into the region.
In Tehran, after weeks of strikes, cafes and restaurants are open and no shortages have been reported in supermarkets or petrol stations, though checkpoints dot the streets. Fatemeh, a 27-year-old dental assistant, said a few minutes at a cafe table let her almost believe the world hasn't ended, before she goes home to the reality of living through war. What to watch now: whether Washington moves on Kharg Island, whether Iran or the Houthis widen the war to Gulf energy sites and Red Sea shipping, and whether the contested talks become real.
Citas Notables
Please, help us to stop the war, you are capable of it.— Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, addressing Trump
It sets an incredible precedent. So this means that nations can now take over international waterways and claim them as their own.— Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on Iran's Hormuz toll plan
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