Trump, increasingly desperate, threatens Iran’s power plants — a war crime that could plunge the entire region and hundreds of millions into darkness

Four weeks into a war he reportedly expected to be over in days, Donald Trump is now threatening to do something that got Russian generals slapped with ICC arrest warrants.

The POTUS is now threatening to obliterate civilian power infrastructure on a mass scale. Late Saturday night, posting from his Florida home, Trump issued an ultimatum to Iran: if Tehran doesn’t fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, he wrote on Truth Social, “the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various power plants, starting with the biggest one first.”

Now, you’ve got to remember, this is not a man who is in control of this rapidly deteriorating situation. This is a man watching oil prices surge nearly 50% to $112 a barrel, watching allies refuse to send warships to clean up his mess, and watching 60% of Americans disapprove of the military action he launched. And of course, watching Iran remain entirely unbowed after nearly a month of relentless bombing.

Just 24 hours before this latest threat, Trump had declared the war was “winding down” but now the U.S. is getting ready to launch attacks that might destroy the livelihoods of more than 90 million people. If Iran retaliates in the way they’ve warned, the lights go out across the region, affecting the lives of hundreds of millions, including people living in GCC countries and Israel.

When Russia systematically bombed Ukraine’s electrical grid in 2022 and 2023, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Sergei Shoigu and military chief Valery Gerasimov.

Netanyahu’s war, Trump’s impotence

Iran isn’t bluffing bout consequences. Its military command, the Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters, has warned that if Trump carries out the threat, the Strait of Hormuz will be shut completely. Furthermore, they will attack every energy infrastructure in the region, including power plants and even water desalination compounds.

It’s unclear what Trump is wishing to achieve with this dangerous escalation of an already catastrophic and increasingly uncontrollable war. Attacking Iran’s energy infrastructure will not force the IRGC to surrender. Devastating retaliatory attacks are almost guaranteed to happen. The Gulf states, which are the United States’ allies, will be hit the hardest. The Hormuz will remain closed.

So, again, we have to ask: What is Trump hoping to achieve?

The only reasonable answer is Israel. Sure, the IRGC will launch attacks against Israel’s infrastructure as well, but Benjamin Netanyahu has made clear he’s willing to pay that cost as long as Iran is taken out of the game.

History will record that the most powerful nation on earth had every opportunity to step back from the edge, but chose instead to pull the plug on the entire region.