Iran urges youth to protect power plant and Saudi Arabia closes bridge as Trump’s deadline nears

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia closed its only road to Bahrain on Tuesday after Iran fired a missile into its oil-rich eastern province. Tehran’s latest attack comes as Iranian officials urged youths to form human chains around power plants as a deadline set by US President Donald Trump for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz approaches.

Trump has threatened to bomb all of Iran’s power plants and bridges if Iran does not meet its Tuesday 8 p.m. EDT deadline to allow shipping traffic through the strategic waterway to fully resume.

“The whole country can be taken out in one night,” said Trump.

Israel’s military warned Iranians in Persian not to run trains throughout the day, possibly telegraphing targeted strikes on the rail network.

“Your presence puts your life at risk,” read a warning posted on X.

After Israel and the US started war on February 28, Iran stopped shipping through the strait. On Monday, Tehran rejected a 45-day ceasefire proposal and said it wanted a permanent end to the war.

Early on Tuesday, Tehran fired seven ballistic missiles into Saudi Arabia, which officials said caused debris to rain down on the ground near energy facilities, intercepting them. Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Turki al-Malki said the damage was being assessed.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia said it was closing the King Fahd Causeway, a bridge linking Saudi Arabia to the island state of Bahrain, amid fears of further Iranian attacks targeting the Eastern Province.

The 25-kilometer (15.5 mi) bridge is the only connection by road to Bahrain, home of the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, on the Arabian Peninsula.

Elsewhere, activists reported a new wave of strikes in Tehran, for which Israel later claimed responsibility. Iran was also reported to have fired a missile at Israel.

Trump’s threat to bomb civilian infrastructure warns of war crimes

Iran’s attacks on the energy infrastructure of its Gulf Arab neighbors, along with its pressure on the Strait of Hormuz, have sent oil prices skyrocketing and causing global economic problems.

In early spot trading, Brent crude, the international standard, was above $111 a barrel, up more than 50% since the war began.

With consumers feeling the pinch under mounting pressure at home, Trump has demanded that Iran open the Strait of Hormuz to all shipping traffic or see power plants and bridges destroyed. Threats to civilian infrastructure have prompted widespread warnings about potential war crimes.

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Lockson on Tuesday urged Trump to follow suit, saying he needed to focus on not escalating the conflict.

“Any acts of bombing bridges and reservoirs and civilian infrastructure will be unacceptable,” Lockson told Radio New Zealand.

Iran sought to call on “all young people, athletes, artists, students and university students and their professors” to form human chains around power plants ahead of threatened strikes.

“The power plants that are our national wealth and capital, regardless of any taste or political point of view, are the future of Iran and the Iranian youth,” Alireza Rahimi, identified by Iranian state television as the secretary of the Supreme Council of Youth and Youth, said in a video call.

Iran has built human chains around its nuclear sites in the past when tensions with the West have risen.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned the US that attacks on civilian infrastructure are prohibited under international law, according to his spokesman. Speaking to reporters, Trump said he was “not at all concerned” about such attacks committing war crimes.

As the deadline approached, efforts for a negotiated settlement continued. Although Iran has rejected the US’s latest proposal, officials involved in diplomacy have said that negotiations are continuing.

The number of deaths in the district is increasing

More than 1,900 people have died in Iran since the war began, but the government has not updated the toll in days.

More than 1400 people have been killed in Lebanon and more than 1 million people have been displaced. 11 Israeli soldiers died there.

In the Gulf Arab states and the occupied West Bank, more than two dozen people have been killed, while 23 and 13 US military members have been killed in Israel.

Japan announced on Tuesday that one of its citizens, who has been imprisoned in Iran since January, has been released on bail. Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara told reporters in Tokyo that Japan is demanding his full release from Iranian authorities.

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Rising reported from Bangkok. Marie Yamaguchi in Tokyo and Rod McGurk in Melbourne, Australia contributed to this report.