Recent American military actions against Iran signify President Trump’s determination to follow through on his promise to target Tehran’s critical infrastructure, including power plants and bridges, as highlighted in a new report.
Throughout a week-long offensive, the US primarily concentrated on military facilities posing threats around the Strait of Hormuz. However, Arab media reports suggest these strikes also impacted over 2,000 segments of Iran’s national electrical grid.
Analysts note the ensuing blackouts were anything but accidental, occurring just hours after Trump’s declaration that Tehran would experience power outages unless it re-engaged in diplomatic negotiations.
“The US targeted infrastructure with Trump’s looming threat to cut the power,” stated Sascha Bruchmann, a research fellow at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies in a conversation with The Daily Telegraph.
Consequently, there now appears to be an amplified atmospheric threat that extends beyond mere military objectives.
Mohammad Allah-Dad, the the head of Tavanir — Iran’s state-run Power Generation, Distribution, and Transmission Company — said the latest American strikes have caused about $1 billion in damages to the grid, digital news outlet Iran Wire reported.
The attacks have already put a great strain on the country’s power grid, with Tavanir forced to implement a 4.200-megawatt reduction in capacity due to the damages so far.
The situation would get much worse if the US follows through on Trump’s threats to decimate Iran’s power plants.
“I’ll save the energy targets for last, but ultimately we’ll hit energy targets,” Trump told Fox News’ “Special Report with Bret Baier” Tuesday.
The president has repeatedly made similar threats since April, warning that the US was willing to attack civilian infrastructure.
The UN’s human rights chief, Volker Türk, has warned that such attacks would constitute war crimes under the Geneva Conventions.
Regardless of the consequences, Danny Citrinowicz, the former head of the Iran division of Israel Defense Intelligence, said Trump will have to find a way to escalate the conflict to break the current stalemate over the Strait of Hormuz.
“The dilemma is quite simple: At the end of the day, if he wants to take control over the straits, he will need to take over the straits,” Citrinowicz told the Wall Street Journal.
“He is not able to reach his military or strategic objectives with the force he has now.”
While Iran has previously scoffed at US threats, Tehran has now ordered the Houthi rebel group in Yemen to close the critical Red Sea trade route should its civilian infrastructure be attacked, three sources told Reuters.
The Iran-backed terror group has reportedly completed such preparations, with drones and missiles deployed near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and awaiting orders.
Attacks on the 20-mile strait that leads out of the Red Sea into the Indian Ocean would further throw oil and trade supplies in chaos, with the waterway responsible for the transport of $1 trillion worth of goods every year.
The Red Sea is also notably where Saudi Arabia has transferred the bulk of its oil trade due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, with the sea now carrying around 7% of the world’s global energy supply.
With Post Wires