Dubai: President Donald Trump warned the US will “obliterate” Iran’s power plants if it doesn’t fully open the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, prompting Tehran to say it would respond to any such strike with attacks on US and Israeli energy and infrastructure assets.
Iranian missiles, meanwhile, struck two communities in southern Israel late Saturday, leaving buildings shattered and dozens injured in dual attacks not far from Israel’s main nuclear research centre.
The developments signalled the war was moving in a dangerous new direction at the start of its fourth week.
Trump – who is facing increasing pressure at home to secure the strait as oil prices soar – issued the ultimatum in a social media post while he spent the weekend at his Florida home.
The death toll from the war has risen to more than 1,500 people in Iran, more than 1,000 people in Lebanon, 15 in Israel and 13 US military members, as well as a number of civilians on land and sea in the Gulf region. Millions of people in Lebanon and Iran have been displaced.
Rachel VanLandingham, a professor at Southwestern Law School, says plants that are confirmed to be dual-use – meaning they also benefit the military – can be targeted only if the strategic advantage outweighs the harm it causes to civilians.
Causing excessive suffering to civilians makes it a war crime under international law, said VanLandingham, a retired lieutenant colonel in the US Air Force who served chief legal adviser for international law at US Central Command.
VanLandingham said: “It could be lawful, but the way he said it sounds awful because he doesn’t provide any kind of nuance.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was noncommittal when asked about Trump’s threats to strike Iran’s power plants if the Strait of Hormuz isn’t opened, and whether Israel would join.
“I think President Trump knows exactly what he’s doing. And whatever we do we do together and as far as possible in confidence,” Netanyahu Israeli prime minister said Sunday.
Trump’s warning underscores how the small strip of water is a vital artery of the world economy.
On a typical day, ships carrying about a fifth of the world’s oil sail out of the Persian Gulf through the narrow passageway between Iran and Oman toward the Indian Ocean.
The war with Iran means it’s effectively closed, hemming in more than 90 per cent of that crude and refined products, according to the International Energy Agency.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said missile attacks on Israeli cities, near Jerusalem’s holy sites, and toward a UK military base in the Indian Ocean, along with the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz, are all evidence that Iran is a threat to the world.
