Trump, Iran threaten power, energy targets as war escalates

(Reuters)

TEL AVIV/JERUSALEM/WASHINGTON, March 22 – U.S. President Donald Trump and Iran threatened to escalate their war, targeting energy and fuel facilities in the Gulf, which ​could again roil global energy and financial markets and deepen a regional crisis.

Trump on Saturday threatened to “obliterate” Iran’s power plants if Tehran did not fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, ‌a significant escalation barely a day after he talked about “winding down” the war, now in its fourth week.

Iran warned on Sunday it would target U.S. infrastructure, including energy facilities in the Gulf, if Trump carried out his threat, which he made as U.S. Marines and heavy landing craft continue to head to the region.

More than 2,000 people have been killed during the war the U.S. and Israel launched on February 28, which has upended markets, spiked fuel costs, fuelled global inflation fears and convulsed the postwar Western alliance.