Monty
March 23, 2026, 5:08am
1025
The Washington Post provided accurate reporting. That’s not being in charge of the war. And how do you think “capturing nuclear material” is going to go?
The US administration doesn’t seem to have a plan for even dealing with closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — At war with Iran, President Donald Trump is cycling through an increasingly desperate list of options as he searches for a solution to the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz . He has jumped from calls to secure the waterway through diplomatic means to lifting sanctions and now escalating to a direct threat against civilian infrastructure in the Islamic Republic.
Trump and his allies insist they were always prepared for Iran to block the strait, yet the Republican president’s erratic strategy has fueled criticism that he is grasping for answers after going to war without a clear exit plan. On Saturday came his latest attempt, via an ultimatum to Iran : Open the strait within 48 hours or the United States will “obliterate” the country’s power plants.
Trump’s aides defended the threat as a hard-edged tactic to press Iran into submission. Opponents framed it as the failure of a president who miscalculated what it would take to get out of a geopolitical mire.
“Trump has no plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, so he is threatening to attack Iran’s civil power plants,” said Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass, adding: “This would be a war crime.”
“He’s lost control of the war and he is panicking,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., responding to Trump’s post.
Over the course of about a week, Trump has repeatedly shifted his approach on the crucial waterway for global oil and gas transport. There is growing urgency for Trump as soaring oil prices rattle global markets and pinch American consumers months before pivotal midterm elections.
Iran, though, does have a plan if its power plants are attacked.
Tehran has threatened to escalate strikes on energy infrastructure and target critical water desalination facilities should President Donald Trump make good on a promise to “obliterate” the country’s power plants if it does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz .
Trump on Saturday evening gave Tehran a 48-hour deadline to reopen the critical trade route, through which around 20% of the world’s oil passes, threatening in a post on Truth Social to target Iran’s energy infrastructure if the demand is not met.
Iran has effectively blocked the strait since the U.S. and Israel launched their attacks on the country on Feb. 28, sparking swift retaliation from the Islamic Republic and triggering a wider war in the region.
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Tehran on Sunday morning showed no signs of backing down, responding to Trump’s ultimatum with its own threat of retaliation as it vowed to strike U.S. and Israeli infrastructure in the region in response to any attack on its power plants.
“If Iran’s fuel and energy infrastructure is attacked, then fuel, energy, information technology systems and desalination infrastructure used by America and the regime in the region will be struck,” Col. Ebrahim Zolfaqari, spokesman for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya military command headquarters, warned on Sunday, according to the IRNA Iranian state news agency.