Trump Threatens To Hit Iran Infrastructure On Tuesday If Strait Remains Blocked

U.S. President Donald Trump ‌said in an expletive-laden social media post on Sunday that the United States will target Iran’s power plants and bridges on Tuesday if the Strait of Hormuz ⁠is not reopened.

“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!!” Trump said in a Truth Social post, referencing the key shipping lane that Tehran has effectively closed since the U.S. ‌and Israel launched attacks on Iran more than a month ago.

“Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST ⁠WATCH!,” Trump said, ending his Easter morning post with: “Praise be to Allah.”

The president separately said he would hold a news conference on Monday in the Oval Office, after the U.S. military ⁠rescued two U.S. pilots whose aircraft were downed in Iran.

Mohammad Ali Shabani, a Middle East scholar and editor of Amwaj.media, says he believes Trump is prepared to deliver on his threats to hit Iran’s critical infrastructure, posing a severe risk of regional escalation.

Iran, for its part, has carried out attacks on Kuwaiti infrastructure to show the US it is “not going to flinch”, Shabani told Al Jazeera.

“We have this situation now where it’s kind of a duel of sorts, with both sides not having any face-saving way to step back,” he added. “Mindful of that, I think there’s a great chance of a severe escalation in the region over the next 24 hours.”

Foad Izadi, a professor at the University of Tehran, says Trump’s latest social media post – filled with profanities and threatening Iran – appears to show that he’s “losing control”.

“He’s under a lot of political pressure, and he thought that he can do this type of regime change in three days … so he’s quite upset that he’s not achieving the goals that he wanted to achieve,” Izadi told Al Jazeera.

Against that backdrop, Izadi said Iran’s leadership is hoping that Trump will “declare victory” and end the war.

“When you are facing Trump and you’re in the leadership in Iran, you feel that you cannot engage the other side in a manner that would result in some level of gain for the Iranian side,” he added.

“If you are an Iranian politician, just giving away the country to someone like Trump would be political suicide; I don’t think Iranians would like to see that.”