Iran called on its youth Tuesday to form human chains around its power plants — after President Trump threatened to decimate the Islamic Republic’s energy infrastructure if Tehran fails to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
“Power plants that are our national assets and capital, regardless of any taste or political viewpoint, belong to the future of Iran and to the Iranian youth,” Alireza Rahimi, secretary of the Supreme Council of Youth and Adolescents, said in a video aired on state TV.
Government officials have called on students, artists, and athletes to form the human shields from 2 p.m. local time — and video showed hordes of Iranians complying within hours, including on several bridges, waving the country’s red, white and green flag and unfurling a massive version across at least one span.
“We hope that with the participation of young people across the country, this human chain will be formed around the power plants, and it will be a sign of the youth’s commitment to protecting the country’s infrastructure and building a bright future,” Rahimi said.
The bloodthirsty regime is already accused of recruiting children as young as 12 in a drive dubbed “Homeland Defending Combatants for Iran.”
Amnesty International said it had confirmed photos showing children wielding weapons such as AK-pattern assault rifles and standing alongside Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps military personnel at checkpoints and during rallies.
The desperate calls come after Trump promised to obliterate Tehran’s energy infrastructure if a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz isn’t reached by 8 p.m.
“We have a plan, because of the power of our military, where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o’clock tomorrow night, where every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding and never to be used again,” he told reporters Monday.
“I mean complete demolition by 12 o’clock.”
Trump reiterated his threat to bomb Iran back to the Stone Age, but said he didn’t want to target the country’s infrastructure.
“Do I want to destroy their infrastructure? No,” he said.
“It will take them 100 years to rebuild right now, if we left today, it would take them 20 years to rebuild their country, and it would never be as good as it was.”
Trump seemed downplay any claims that targeting power plants would amount to a war crime.
“You know what’s a war crime? Allowing a sick country with demented leadership to have a nuclear weapon,” he said.
With the clock ticking, Iran reportedly put forward a 10-point cease-fire plan, which one US official described as “maximalist,” Axios reported.
Trump branded it a “significant step” but said it was “not good enough,” the New York Times reported.
Tehran has threatened to retaliate if the US targets its energy infrastructure.
“The rulers of Arab countries should in order to prevent the region from going dark, make Trump understand that the Persian Gulf is not a place of gambling,” Aliakbar Velayati, a senior adviser to the ayatollah, wrote on X.
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