Trump Threatens Iran Infrastructure as Talks Stall

Trump warns Iran's power plants and bridges face destruction if Tehran misses deadline to reopen.

US President Donald Trump has warned that Iran's power plants and bridges will be destroyed if Iran does not meet his latest deadline to agree to a deal that includes reopening the crucial Strait of Hormuz. The warning came as airstrikes hit two bridges and a train station in Iran, and Iranian officials urged young people to form human chains to protect power plants. Trump also threatened that the whole civilisation will die tonight if Tehran does not allow traffic to fully resume in the strait, through which a fifth of the world's oil transits in peacetime.

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said 14 million people, including himself, have volunteered to fight. Israel has increasingly carried out strikes that it says are aimed at delivering a blow to Iran's economy. Khorramabad International Airport in the western Iranian province of Lorestan also came under US-Israeli airstrikes. Iran, meanwhile, fired on Israel and Saudi Arabia, prompting the temporary closure of a major bridge.

Trump has repeatedly shared a map on Truth Social showing the Strait of Hormuz as "new US territory," even as Iran maintained that the crucial waterway would remain closed amid stalled diplomatic talks. Oil shipments through the strait have come to a near halt, and Tehran has warned that it could strike unauthorised oil tankers attempting to pass through the vital waterway. Trump first spoke about declaring the Strait of Hormuz part of US territory on August 15.

Officials involved in diplomatic efforts said talks were ongoing, but Iran has rejected the latest American proposal. US Vice President JD Vance said negotiations were on with Iran but the ball is in the Iranians' court now, adding that the US has largely achieved its military objectives in the West Asia conflict. Pakistani Field Marshal Asim Munir will lead a delegation to Tehran on Monday as part of Islamabad's efforts to de-escalate tensions between the United States and Iran and urge them to return to the negotiating table.

The new head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei, warned that Tehran will see any country's support for new US economic measures against the Islamic Republic as an "act of war." According to ABC News, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is expected to announce new sanctions after the US vowed to impose an "unprecedented" level of economic warfare and isolation. Rezaei said Iran would target other oil-shipping routes from the Persian Gulf — alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz — if neighbors join the economic measures.

Iran's President Pezeshkian defended a memorandum of understanding with the United States as the best way out of a stalled war, saying there is not a single provision in the agreement that amounts to capitulation. The deal set a 60-day deadline for ending the war and reaching an accord on Iran's nuclear program, but that period ended last week with no signs of compromise. The US military said its blockade of Iranian ports had redirected 70 commercial ships and disabled three as of Sunday, according to ABC News, while Iran's newly created Persian Gulf Strait Authority published a list of dozens of ships it said would face future restrictions.