Regional energy exports would be for everyone or for no one
In the shadow of a fragile and now-fraying ceasefire, the United States and Iran have entered a fourth consecutive day of military exchange, with American forces striking Iranian targets along the Persian Gulf while Iranian drones and missiles reach into Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan. President Trump has issued an ultimatum threatening to destroy Iran's civilian power plants and bridges — infrastructure whose loss would extinguish light and water for millions of ordinary people — unless Tehran returns to the negotiating table by next week. The threat, which international humanitarian law would classify as a war crime, arrives not as a last resort but as a declared tactic, a pressure point wielded in a conflict whose deeper stakes are the control of the Strait of Hormuz and, with it, a fifth of the world's flowing energy. What began as a contest over maritime routes now risks becoming something far harder to contain.
- Trump has given Iran a public deadline: negotiate or watch your power plants and bridges fall — a threat that crosses lines drawn by the Geneva Conventions.
- US forces are now four days deep into strikes on Iranian targets while a reimposed naval blockade tightens around Iranian ports, dismantling the diplomatic framework Iran says was agreed in Islamabad.
- Iran's IRGC has struck back across the region — hitting US Fifth Fleet facilities in Bahrain, triggering attacks reported in Kuwait, and launching ballistic missiles into Jordanian airspace.
- Iran's warning that regional energy exports will be 'for everyone or for no one' signals a willingness to threaten Gulf Arab supply routes, pulling the wider region into the vortex.
- A June ceasefire has effectively collapsed, negotiations show no sign of revival, and Trump has offered no timeline for ending strikes — only the words 'until I say it's enough.'
On Tuesday, Donald Trump delivered a blunt ultimatum from a Fox News camera: unless Iran agreed to negotiate, the United States would destroy its power plants and bridges within days. "Next week it gets really bad for them," he said. The threat landed while American forces were already four days into strikes on Iranian targets, with US Central Command framing the operations as efforts to degrade Iran's capacity to threaten commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz — the narrow passage carrying roughly a fifth of the world's oil and gas.
Iran did not absorb the pressure quietly. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed strikes on US Fifth Fleet command facilities in Bahrain, while Bahrain and Kuwait both reported attacks. Jordan's military intercepted three ballistic missiles that crossed into its airspace, launched as part of an Iranian drone strike on a base hosting American warplanes. The cycle of retaliation was widening.
The escalation has effectively buried what remained of a June 17 interim ceasefire. Iran's deputy foreign minister said the reimposed American naval blockade had dismantled the diplomatic architecture negotiated in Islamabad. The IRGC issued a broader warning: if Washington moved to control maritime routes and choke Iranian exports, other regional energy corridors serving American allies could face the same fate.
Trump's infrastructure threats were not new in spirit — he had used similar language in March, threatening to obliterate power stations and water facilities. But international humanitarian law is unambiguous: targeting civilian infrastructure sustaining millions of lives constitutes a war crime under the Geneva Conventions. Trump cast the threat as leverage, a way to force Iran to the table — even as the table itself appeared to have been cleared away.
Earlier in the week, Trump had announced a 20 percent toll on all ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz for American "security" — only to scrap the fee five hours before it took effect, citing productive conversations with Gulf Arab leaders and touting new investment deals. The blockade on Iranian ports, however, remained. When asked how long the strikes would continue, Trump gave no timeline. "Until I say it's enough," he said — leaving the region suspended between a collapsed ceasefire and the open threat of something far worse.
Donald Trump stood before a Fox News camera on Tuesday and made a stark declaration: within days, the United States would destroy Iran's power plants and bridges unless Tehran agreed to negotiate. "Next week it gets really bad for them," he said, his language blunt and unambiguous. "We're going to knock out all their power plants. We're going to knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate."
The threat arrived as American military forces were already deep into a fourth consecutive day of strikes against Iranian targets. US Central Command described these operations as aimed at degrading Iran's ability to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which roughly a fifth of the world's oil and natural gas flows during peacetime. Simultaneously, the United States had reimposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports, tightening the economic and military vise around the country.
Iranian state media reported explosions near Bandar Abbas and other locations along the Persian Gulf. In response, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed it had struck command-and-control facilities, logistics hubs, and military equipment belonging to the US Fifth Fleet stationed in Bahrain. The retaliation spread across the region: both Bahrain and Kuwait reported attacks, while Jordan's military said it had intercepted and shot down three ballistic missiles that entered its airspace early Wednesday morning. Iranian forces had launched a drone strike on a military base in Jordan that hosts American warplanes.
This cycle of escalation threatens to unravel what little remained of a fragile ceasefire. An interim agreement had been signed on June 17, but prospects for a permanent truce now appeared increasingly dim. Iran's deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, said the American decision to renew the blockade had effectively dismantled the diplomatic framework that had been negotiated in Islamabad. The IRGC, meanwhile, issued a warning with regional implications: if Washington sought to control maritime routes and block Iran's oil and gas exports, other export routes serving American and allied interests could also be closed. "Regional energy exports," the statement suggested, "would be for everyone or for no one."
Trump's threat to destroy civilian power plants and bridges echoed language he had used in March, when he threatened to "obliterate" Iran's power stations and fresh water facilities if Tehran did not agree to peace terms "shortly." International humanitarian law explicitly prohibits the destruction of civilian infrastructure in wartime. Targeting power plants and water systems—facilities that sustain ordinary life for millions of people—would constitute a war crime under the Geneva Conventions. Yet Trump framed the threat as a negotiating tactic, a pressure point to force Iran to the bargaining table.
Earlier in the week, Trump had announced a different kind of pressure: a 20 percent fee that all ships would have to pay the United States for "security" in the Strait of Hormuz. But just five hours before that toll was set to take effect, he reversed course. He said he had decided to scrap the fee "based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership" and touted "massive" investments and trade deals with Gulf Arab states instead. The blockade on Iranian ports, however, would continue.
When asked how long the American strikes would persist, Trump offered no timeline. "They'll continue until I say it's enough," he said. The statement left open the possibility of indefinite military operations, with the threat of civilian infrastructure destruction hanging over negotiations that appeared to have already collapsed. Days of retaliatory strikes across the Middle East, combined with both nations' struggle for control of a waterway essential to global energy supplies, had created a dynamic that threatened to push the region back toward all-out war.
Citas Notables
We're going to knock out all their power plants. We're going to knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate.— Donald Trump, in Fox News interview
The US decision to renew the blockade has, in a way, dismantled the Islamabad memorandum.— Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran's deputy foreign minister
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why would Trump threaten to destroy power plants specifically? That seems like an unusually direct threat.
Because power plants are civilian infrastructure that affects every person in the country. It's not a military target—it's leverage against the population itself. The threat is meant to create pressure on Iran's leadership by threatening the daily lives of ordinary Iranians.
But doesn't that violate international law?
It does. Deliberately destroying civilian power and water systems is explicitly prohibited under the Geneva Conventions. It would constitute a war crime. Trump acknowledged this threat in March too, so this isn't a new position.
If it's illegal, why state it so openly?
Because it's a negotiating tactic. The threat itself is the tool. Whether it would actually be carried out is secondary to whether it forces Iran to the table. The openness makes it credible—he's not hiding it.
What about the blockade? That seems like a separate pressure point.
It is. The blockade cuts off Iran's ability to export oil and gas, which is their primary source of revenue. Combined with the military strikes and the threat to infrastructure, it's a multi-layered campaign to make the cost of not negotiating unbearable.
And Iran is retaliating?
Yes. They've struck back at US positions in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan. The cycle is accelerating. Each side is demonstrating capability and resolve, but neither seems willing to step back.
What happens if this continues?
The fragile ceasefire that was signed in June collapses entirely. You end up with sustained military operations across the region, with the Strait of Hormuz—critical to global oil supplies—becoming a contested war zone.