EXPLAINER
Trump threatens to hit Iranian power websites if the Strait of Hormuz just isn’t reopened inside 48 hours; Tehran vows to retaliate.
Published On 22 Mar 2026
United States President Donald Trump has threatened to “obliterate” Iran’s energy vegetation if Tehran doesn’t absolutely reopen the Strait of Hormuz inside two days, as Israel launched new assaults on Tehran, with explosions reported within the east of the town.
Meanwhile, Iranian retaliatory assaults on Israel and regional international locations have continued, with practically 100 individuals injured in Iranian missile strikes on cities close to an Israeli nuclear facility.
Israel had a “very difficult evening in the battle for our future”, mentioned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after Iranian strikes hit the cities of Arad and Dimona.
Here is what it’s best to know because the US-Israeli struggle on Iran enters day 23:
In Iran
- Israel launched new assaults on Tehran on Sunday, with explosions reported within the east of the town, following Iranian missile assaults on southern Israel.
- Iran’s army threatened to assault all power infrastructure linked to the US and Israel within the Middle East if its energy vegetation are focused, after Trump threatened new assaults.
- The Iranian army introduced intercepting a US-Israeli armed drone within the skies over Tehran earlier than it might perform any fight operations, in keeping with the Tasnim information company.
- The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed on Saturday its air defences shot down an Israeli fighter in Iranian airspace, the third such incident reported throughout the struggle. Israel didn’t verify this.
- Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation mentioned Israel and the US focused the nation’s Natanz nuclear web site on Saturday in “criminal attacks”. Tehran additionally knowledgeable the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in regards to the assault, which confirmed no uncommon radiation leak.
- Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian referred to as on the BRICS alliance, at the moment chaired by India, to “play an independent role in halting aggressions against Iran”. He additionally proposed establishing a regional safety framework of West Asian international locations.
- Iran’s state broadcaster famous the loss of life toll from the US-Israeli assaults has now topped 1,500, in keeping with the Ministry of Health, and not less than 20,984 individuals have been injured, with seven hospitals evacuated and 36 ambulances broken.
In the Gulf
- Saudi Arabia intercepted practically 60 drones from Iran, officers mentioned, a majority of them concentrating on the nation’s Eastern province, which homes the nation’s power services and sources.
- The Ministry of Defence additionally mentioned three ballistic missiles have been launched in direction of Riyadh province. It mentioned it intercepted a type of, whereas the others fell in an uninhabited space.
- Saudi Arabia declared most of the Iranian diplomatic workers, together with its army attache, persona non grata, ordering them to go away the nation inside 24 hours, after Qatar did the identical on Wednesday.
- In Bahrain, Iranian missiles focused US bases after Iran’s state broadcaster claimed earlier assaults on al-Minhad base within the United Arab Emirates and Ali al-Salem airbase in Kuwait, which host US and British forces.
- Bahrain’s army mentioned its air defences shot down 143 missiles and 242 drones fired by Iran throughout the struggle.
- Qatar’s Ministry of Defence famous a search operation after one in all its helicopters suffered a technical malfunction throughout a routine responsibility and crashed within the regional waters.
In the US
- Trump threatened to assault Iran’s power websites in a put up on Truth Social. “If Iran doesn’t FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 HOURS from this exact point in time, the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!” he wrote.
- Trump claimed that the US is “weeks ahead of schedule” in its struggle on Iran and reiterated that Washington just isn’t seeking to make a cope with Iran, as a result of “their leadership is gone, their navy and air force are dead, they have absolutely no defense”.
- Trump repeated that Iran desires “to make a deal”; nonetheless, Iranian leaders have denied such earlier assertions.
- Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of the US Central Command, says the US army has dropped a number of 5,000-pound (2,270kg) bombs on an underground facility alongside Iran’s coast that it used to retailer antiship cruise missiles, cellular missile launchers and different gear, thus undermining its means to threaten the Strait of Hormuz.
In Israel
- Iranian missile assaults broke by way of Israeli defences within the south of the nation, making direct impacts within the cities of Dimona and Arad, wounding some 100 individuals. The IRGC mentioned it focused Israeli army installations and safety centres within the cities of Arad, Dimona, Eilat, Beersheba and Kiryat Gat in its most up-to-date missile salvo. Tehran claimed greater than 200 individuals have been killed within the assaults; Israel reported no deaths.
- PM Netanyahu mentioned he’s “strengthening the emergency and rescue forces currently operating in the field” after the Iranian assault in southern Israel.
- The IAEA mentioned it’s conscious of stories of a missile affect within the Israeli metropolis of Dimona, including that there are not any indications of harm to the nuclear analysis centre in Negev.
- Israel’s Ministry of Education cancelled all in-person lessons throughout the nation for Sunday and Monday. Israel’s Home Front Command banned gatherings of greater than 50 individuals within the nation’s south till Tuesday.
- Israel’s army says it struck greater than 200 websites in Iran and Lebanon over the weekend, concentrating on missile launchers, air defence programs and army bases.
- Israeli army spokesman mentioned Israel’s air defence programs have been activated throughout the assaults, however didn’t intercept a number of the missiles, although they weren’t “special or unfamiliar”. The spokesman mentioned the army would examine and “learn from” the incidents.
- Israel’s Ministry of Health mentioned not less than 4,292 injured individuals have been dropped at hospitals for the reason that begin of the struggle.
In Iraq and Lebanon
- Hezbollah mentioned it fired a barrage of rockets at Israeli troopers patrolling in southern Lebanon. Two Israeli reservists have been wounded in one other Hezbollah mortar assault in northern Israel.
- The Islamic Resistance in Iraq mentioned it carried out 21 assaults towards US bases throughout the nation and the area previously 24 hours.
- Three drones have been intercepted close to Erbil airport, leading to a fireplace within the neighborhood. Another drone crashed within the al-Sayyidah space, southwest of the capital, Baghdad, with 4 individuals injured.
On the Strait of Hormuz
- The UAE, Bahrain, the United Kingdom, France and Germany issued a joint assertion, condemning what they described as Iran’s assaults on industrial vessels and civilian infrastructure within the Gulf.
- The assertion accused Iran of the “de facto closure” of the Strait of Hormuz and referred to as for an instantaneous halt to threats, mine-laying, and drone and missile assaults.
Joint US-UK Diego Garcia base
- The UK accused Iran of launching ballistic missiles on the joint US-UK Diego Garcia base within the Indian Ocean, however mentioned the assault was unsuccessful.
- A senior Iranian official informed Al Jazeera that Iran was not liable for the missile assaults on Diego Garcia.
- Diego Garcia, which is about 4,000km (2,500 miles) from Iranian territory, is among the two bases the UK has allowed the US to make use of for “defensive operations” within the struggle towards Iran.
