Iran war: Trump threatens to attack power plants over Strait of Hormuz

Al Jazeera

By Ted Regencia and Zaid Sabah

Published On 22 Mar 202622 Mar 2026

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• US President Donald Trump threatens to “obliterate” Iran’s power plants if it fails to open the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours.
• Iran attacks southern Israel, wounding dozens in the cities of Dimona and Arad, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling it a “difficult evening of battle”.
• US and Israeli attacks continue across Iran, including in Tehran, Karaj, Isfahan and Natanz, with Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation saying the Natanz nuclear facility was also struck.
• Saudi Arabia has declared several Iranian embassy staff, including its military attache, as persona non grata, ordering them to leave the country within 24 hours, as Tehran’s attacks on the Gulf continue.

• • US President Donald Trump threatens to “obliterate” Iran’s power plants if Tehran does not fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, just barely a day after talking about “winding down” the war.
  • Iranian authorities say over 1,400 people have been killed and more than 200 cities have been hit in the ongoing US-Israeli attack against the country.
  • Loud explosions hit several areas across the Iranian capital Tehran, after US and Israel launched a new round of attacks as the war enter its fourth week.
  • Iran’s military says it has intercepted and downed a US-Israeli armed drone in the skies of Tehran before it could carry out any combat operations.
  • Saudi Arabia says it has intercepted nearly 60 drones fired into the country from Iran.
  • The Islamic Resistance in Iraq says it has carried out 21 attacks against US bases across the country and the region within the past 24 hours.
  • Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi announces that one of two Japanese nationals detained in Iran has been released and will be returning to the country soon.
  • Qatar’s Ministry of Defence says a search is underway after one of its helicopters suffered a technical malfunction during a routine duty and crashed in the regional waters of the state.
  • Israel’s ambulance service says at least 88 people were wounded in the Iranian missile attack on the southern city of Arad, bringing to over 100 the number of people injured including those from an earlier Iranian strike near Dimona.
• 12m ago

   (04:50 GMT)

  Israeli peace activist demands answers after Iranian strikes on Dimona and Arad

  Yariv Oppenheimer, an Israeli human rights activist, says the Israeli government must be held “accountable” for claiming Iran was nearly out of weapons even as Iranian strikes on the country continue.

  In a statement posted on X, Oppenheimer wrote that authorities “are not telling” the Israeli public about how the country’s interceptors failed against Iran’s latest strikes.

  “They’re not telling us how many missiles were fired at Israel, how many missiles managed to hit their targets, how many launchers were actually destroyed, and how many launchers and missiles are still left,” Oppenheimer said.

  The activist and politician issued the statement following Iran’s strike on Dimona and Arad, which left more than 100 people injured including children.

  “Enough with deceiving the public and telling it what it wants to hear. Speak the truth,” Oppenheimer said in a separate post on X.

  

  1:46

  Mass Casualties After Iran Strikes Arad & Dimona | Israel Under Fire
• 22m ago

   (04:40 GMT)

  Iran war wipes more than $50bn off value of world’s biggest airlines: Report

  The world’s 20 largest publicly listed airlines have lost about $53bn in value since the US-Israel war on Iran began in February, The Financial Times reports.

  The UK newspaper said the airline industry is in the grip of its worst crisis since the COVID-19 pandemic, as the war has disrupted the Gulf’s hub airports and grounded flights.

  The report also said that airline executives are sounding the alarm of possible fuel shortages as the war heads into its fourth week.

  Jet fuel, which accounts for a third of airlines’ costs, has doubled since the war began on February 28, raising the possibility of an increase in airline tickets, the report added.

  

  1:47

  Flight chaos hits Gulf and Europe as airlines hike fares
  
  
• 32m ago

   (04:30 GMT)

  

  US bombing Iran hard, ‘but not to the point of forcing the Iranians into submission’

  We’ve been speaking to Paolo Von Schirach, president of the Global Policy Institute, about the US strategy in the war on Iran.

  He told Al Jazeera the Iranian leadership was unlikely to capitulate.

  “We have been bombing Iran now for several weeks. Successfully, I would say, but not to the point of forcing the Iranians into submission,” he said.

  Von Schirach said the US and Israel have “control of the skies over Tehran” after destroying all of the country’s air defences. This means the two militaries can deploy bombers and bombs. But, he asked, “to hit what exactly?”

  The analyst noted the US and Israel have claimed they’ve hit more than 8,000 targets in the first few days of the war. “How many more targets are there that are high value? And that would really tilt the balance in this conflict in favour of America?” he aded.

  Von Schirach noted that wars end not when somebody says “I won”, but when they say “I lost”.

  “Until that moment comes, the war is not over. You have to have somebody who says, okay, enough, enough. I had it. Please, let’s stop this. I don’t see the current Iranian leadership, as bad as they are, as being easy on this, and to say, ‘You know what? We had it good for 47 years, and now it’s time to let go, because the Americans are really too strong’. They will never do that.”
• 42m ago

   (04:20 GMT)

  UK scrambles to reassure Cyprus amid tensions over RAF base

  By Sonia Gallego

  Reporting from London, UK

  The phone conversation between UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides on Saturday was all about easing the political tensions that have erupted since the start of this war.

  It was primarily about the security situation in Cyprus and the eastern Mediterranean.

  Cyprus has been drawn into the conflict after UK authorities said Hezbollah drones launched from Lebanon had targeted the island, something that caused an enormous amount of consternation for the Cypriot leadership.

  Only two days ago, the Cypriot president said that after this particular war, perhaps it was time for Cyprus to reconsider the presence of UK bases on the island. That, of course, has set alarm bells off in the UK, because Cyprus is a strategic area for the UK. It is enormously important. It has carried out missions from Akrotiri [in Cyprus] to Syria and to Iraq.

  So while the phone call was aimed at allaying tensions, there is a bigger diplomatic push under way. Starmer has made clear that the UK will only act in a defensive capacity and that the only way to resolve this crisis would be through diplomatic means.
• 52m ago

   (04:10 GMT)

  

  Iran destroys combat drone over Tehran

  The Iranian military has announced intercepting and downing a US-Israeli armed drone in the skies of Tehran before it could carry out any combat operations, according to the Tasnim news agency.

  “Since the beginning of the recent imposed war, 127 advanced drones of various types belonging to the enemy have been targeted and destroyed by the country’s air defence,” the military was cited as saying.

  Earlier, the Israeli military said it had begun a new wave of attacks on Tehran, while residents of the city reported hearing loud explosions to its east and west.
• 1h ago

   (04:00 GMT)

  Iranian drones targeting Saudi Arabia’s energy heartland

  

  By Resul Serdar Atas

  Reporting from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

  In the last 24 hours, nearly 60 drones were fired from Iran to Saudi Arabia, and the authorities here say all of them have been intercepted.

  I spoke to a retired Saudi general a couple of hours ago, and he expressed confidence in the country’s ability to defend itself. He said Saudi Arabia has one of the strongest and most sophisticated air forces in the region. Having said that, the majority of drones fired so far have targeted the country’s Eastern Province. This is important because the overwhelming majority of the country’s energy facilities and resources are located in the Eastern Province, including the export terminals and the processing plants.

  Saudi Arabia does have an advantage compared with other Gulf states. It has an alternative export route through the Red Sea also. So, 30 percent of Saudi energy is being transported to the world through the Red Sea, but Iranian drones or missiles are not only targeting the Eastern Province in recent days, but we have also seen attacks on the coastal city of Yanbu, which hosts an important energy facility as well.

  So, this is putting a huge amount of pressure on the Saudi economy, because energy is the economic lifeline of the country.