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A woman looks out from her destroyed apartment at the remains of a residential and commercial building on March 21, 2026 in the Shahrak-e Gharb neighbourhood of Tehran, Iran.
(Photo by Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)
'A Threat to Millions of Civilians': Horror Grows Over Trump Vow to Bomb Iranian Power Plants
"This is collective punishment," said the president of the National Iranian American Council. "Targeting power plants, nuclear plants, and desalination plants are war crimes."
Mar 23, 2026
Update (7:35 am ET):
US President Donald Trump wrote on social media early Monday that he has instructed the Pentagon to "postpone any and all military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for a five-day period, subject to the success of the ongoing meetings and discussions."
Trump asserted that US and Iranian officials have had "very good and productive conversations" over the past two days "regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East."
Iran denied Trump's claim of talks, saying the US president "backed down" after its retaliatory threats against power infrastructure in Gulf nations.
Earlier:
US President Donald Trump's threat over the weekend to bomb Iranian power plants if the Strait of Hormuz is not fully reopened by Monday night sparked horror around the world and inside Iran, a nation of roughly 90 million people.
"As far as I can tell, everyone is extremely worried," a 35-year-old Tehran resident, identified as Ruhollah, told The New York Times via text message late Sunday as the US president's arbitrary deadline approached. "We are sitting and waiting to see what will happen to us in 48 hours. Everyone will suffer: We will lose power, the Arabs will lose power and water."
The Iranian government threatened to retaliate against any US attack on its civilian power infrastructure with a large-scale assault on power plants serving US military installations and other American interests in Gulf nations.
"If you hit electricity, we hit electricity," the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in response to Trump's threat, which gave Iran until approximately 7:45 pm ET on Monday to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as the global energy crisis sparked by the illegal US-Israeli war intensified.
Mike Waltz, the US ambassador to the United Nations, declined to rule out a strike on nuclear energy plants in Iran, saying in a television appearance on Sunday that he would "never take anything off the table for the president."
"This is absurd and dangerous," responded Kelsey Davenport, director of nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association (ACA). "Bombing a nuclear power plant should be off the table. Period."
Daryl Kimball, the ACA's director, added that "bombing a functioning nuclear power reactor is blatantly illegal."
"Any such order from [the US president] would be illegal and should not be executed by military commanders," Kimball wrote on social media. "Trump and Co. are out of control."
The National Iranian American Council (NIAC) warned Sunday that if Trump follows through with his threat to strike Iranian power plants, "it is likely the US, Israel, and Iran enter a full-scale infrastructure warfare, where electricity systems—essential for hospitals, water supply, communications, and daily life—are treated as targets."
"The consequences of such a shift would likely extend far beyond Iran, risking regional blackouts, economic disruption, and large-scale civilian harm for tens of millions of people," the group wrote in a blog post. "Targeting power plants risks severe humanitarian consequences and invites reciprocal attacks across the region. Strikes near nuclear facilities increase the danger of catastrophic escalation, even if unintended."
Jamal Abdi, NIAC's president, said in a statement that "threatening to bomb Iran’s power plants is a threat to millions of civilians—people who rely on electricity for hospitals, water systems, and basic survival."
"This is not a ‘targeted’ strike. This is collective punishment," said Abdi, calling for an urgent diplomatic resolution. "Targeting power plants, nuclear plants, and desalination plants are war crimes. The president’s endorsement of such acts only threatens to escalate the conflict further and provoke attacks on civilian infrastructure across the region."
Early Monday, power outages were reported across Tehran as the Israeli military announced "a wide-scale wave of strikes" on the Iranian capital.
"Al Jazeera Arabic’s correspondent in Tehran, Suhaib al-Asa, reported that the size and volume of the explosions in the Iranian capital were 'unprecedented,' especially in the eastern side of the city," the outlet noted. "The Iranian air defense systems were activated in the eastern part of the city, al-Asa said, which indicated Iran was responding to US-Israeli drones hovering over that part of the city."
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Update (7:35 am ET):
US President Donald Trump wrote on social media early Monday that he has instructed the Pentagon to "postpone any and all military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for a five-day period, subject to the success of the ongoing meetings and discussions."
Trump asserted that US and Iranian officials have had "very good and productive conversations" over the past two days "regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East."
Iran denied Trump's claim of talks, saying the US president "backed down" after its retaliatory threats against power infrastructure in Gulf nations.
Earlier:
US President Donald Trump's threat over the weekend to bomb Iranian power plants if the Strait of Hormuz is not fully reopened by Monday night sparked horror around the world and inside Iran, a nation of roughly 90 million people.
"As far as I can tell, everyone is extremely worried," a 35-year-old Tehran resident, identified as Ruhollah, told The New York Times via text message late Sunday as the US president's arbitrary deadline approached. "We are sitting and waiting to see what will happen to us in 48 hours. Everyone will suffer: We will lose power, the Arabs will lose power and water."
The Iranian government threatened to retaliate against any US attack on its civilian power infrastructure with a large-scale assault on power plants serving US military installations and other American interests in Gulf nations.
"If you hit electricity, we hit electricity," the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in response to Trump's threat, which gave Iran until approximately 7:45 pm ET on Monday to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as the global energy crisis sparked by the illegal US-Israeli war intensified.
Mike Waltz, the US ambassador to the United Nations, declined to rule out a strike on nuclear energy plants in Iran, saying in a television appearance on Sunday that he would "never take anything off the table for the president."
"This is absurd and dangerous," responded Kelsey Davenport, director of nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association (ACA). "Bombing a nuclear power plant should be off the table. Period."
Daryl Kimball, the ACA's director, added that "bombing a functioning nuclear power reactor is blatantly illegal."
"Any such order from [the US president] would be illegal and should not be executed by military commanders," Kimball wrote on social media. "Trump and Co. are out of control."
The National Iranian American Council (NIAC) warned Sunday that if Trump follows through with his threat to strike Iranian power plants, "it is likely the US, Israel, and Iran enter a full-scale infrastructure warfare, where electricity systems—essential for hospitals, water supply, communications, and daily life—are treated as targets."
"The consequences of such a shift would likely extend far beyond Iran, risking regional blackouts, economic disruption, and large-scale civilian harm for tens of millions of people," the group wrote in a blog post. "Targeting power plants risks severe humanitarian consequences and invites reciprocal attacks across the region. Strikes near nuclear facilities increase the danger of catastrophic escalation, even if unintended."
Jamal Abdi, NIAC's president, said in a statement that "threatening to bomb Iran’s power plants is a threat to millions of civilians—people who rely on electricity for hospitals, water systems, and basic survival."
"This is not a ‘targeted’ strike. This is collective punishment," said Abdi, calling for an urgent diplomatic resolution. "Targeting power plants, nuclear plants, and desalination plants are war crimes. The president’s endorsement of such acts only threatens to escalate the conflict further and provoke attacks on civilian infrastructure across the region."
Early Monday, power outages were reported across Tehran as the Israeli military announced "a wide-scale wave of strikes" on the Iranian capital.
"Al Jazeera Arabic’s correspondent in Tehran, Suhaib al-Asa, reported that the size and volume of the explosions in the Iranian capital were 'unprecedented,' especially in the eastern side of the city," the outlet noted. "The Iranian air defense systems were activated in the eastern part of the city, al-Asa said, which indicated Iran was responding to US-Israeli drones hovering over that part of the city."
Update (7:35 am ET):
US President Donald Trump wrote on social media early Monday that he has instructed the Pentagon to "postpone any and all military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for a five-day period, subject to the success of the ongoing meetings and discussions."
Trump asserted that US and Iranian officials have had "very good and productive conversations" over the past two days "regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East."
Iran denied Trump's claim of talks, saying the US president "backed down" after its retaliatory threats against power infrastructure in Gulf nations.
Earlier:
US President Donald Trump's threat over the weekend to bomb Iranian power plants if the Strait of Hormuz is not fully reopened by Monday night sparked horror around the world and inside Iran, a nation of roughly 90 million people.
"As far as I can tell, everyone is extremely worried," a 35-year-old Tehran resident, identified as Ruhollah, told The New York Times via text message late Sunday as the US president's arbitrary deadline approached. "We are sitting and waiting to see what will happen to us in 48 hours. Everyone will suffer: We will lose power, the Arabs will lose power and water."
The Iranian government threatened to retaliate against any US attack on its civilian power infrastructure with a large-scale assault on power plants serving US military installations and other American interests in Gulf nations.
"If you hit electricity, we hit electricity," the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in response to Trump's threat, which gave Iran until approximately 7:45 pm ET on Monday to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as the global energy crisis sparked by the illegal US-Israeli war intensified.
Mike Waltz, the US ambassador to the United Nations, declined to rule out a strike on nuclear energy plants in Iran, saying in a television appearance on Sunday that he would "never take anything off the table for the president."
"This is absurd and dangerous," responded Kelsey Davenport, director of nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association (ACA). "Bombing a nuclear power plant should be off the table. Period."
Daryl Kimball, the ACA's director, added that "bombing a functioning nuclear power reactor is blatantly illegal."
"Any such order from [the US president] would be illegal and should not be executed by military commanders," Kimball wrote on social media. "Trump and Co. are out of control."
The National Iranian American Council (NIAC) warned Sunday that if Trump follows through with his threat to strike Iranian power plants, "it is likely the US, Israel, and Iran enter a full-scale infrastructure warfare, where electricity systems—essential for hospitals, water supply, communications, and daily life—are treated as targets."
"The consequences of such a shift would likely extend far beyond Iran, risking regional blackouts, economic disruption, and large-scale civilian harm for tens of millions of people," the group wrote in a blog post. "Targeting power plants risks severe humanitarian consequences and invites reciprocal attacks across the region. Strikes near nuclear facilities increase the danger of catastrophic escalation, even if unintended."
Jamal Abdi, NIAC's president, said in a statement that "threatening to bomb Iran’s power plants is a threat to millions of civilians—people who rely on electricity for hospitals, water systems, and basic survival."
"This is not a ‘targeted’ strike. This is collective punishment," said Abdi, calling for an urgent diplomatic resolution. "Targeting power plants, nuclear plants, and desalination plants are war crimes. The president’s endorsement of such acts only threatens to escalate the conflict further and provoke attacks on civilian infrastructure across the region."
Early Monday, power outages were reported across Tehran as the Israeli military announced "a wide-scale wave of strikes" on the Iranian capital.
"Al Jazeera Arabic’s correspondent in Tehran, Suhaib al-Asa, reported that the size and volume of the explosions in the Iranian capital were 'unprecedented,' especially in the eastern side of the city," the outlet noted. "The Iranian air defense systems were activated in the eastern part of the city, al-Asa said, which indicated Iran was responding to US-Israeli drones hovering over that part of the city."
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