The Strait of Hormuz, strategic for the global supply of hydrocarbons, must reopen no later than this Monday, threatens Donald Trump, under penalty of attacking Iranian power plants.

The ultimatum issued by Donald Trump to Tehran for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway for global hydrocarbon supplies, expires on Monday, the 24th day of the war against Iran. If Iran does not reopen this nearly paralyzed passage by Monday evening, the American president threatened to "strike and destroy" Iranian power plants, "starting with the largest one!" he wrote on his social media account.

“Sometimes you need an escalation to de-escalate,” said US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday. If Washington’s threats are carried out, Iran has warned it will completely close the strait, a crucial maritime passage through which nearly 20% of the world’s hydrocarbons normally transit.

In reality, the Strait of Hormuz has been virtually closed since the start of the war engulfing the Middle East, with the transit of goods through it having collapsed by 95%, according to the analysis firm Kpler. Only a small number of cargo ships and oil tankers have managed to pass through it.

Israel is preparing for "several weeks"

While Washington remains vague about the end of its military operations, now in their fourth week, Israel indicated on Sunday that it is preparing for "several more weeks of fighting against Iran and the pro-Iranian Hezbollah" in Lebanon. The Israeli army plans to "intensify targeted ground operations and strikes" in Lebanon to push the Hezbollah threat "far from the border," stated its Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir.

Earlier, she had destroyed a strategic bridge in southern Lebanon, which she claimed was used by Hezbollah. AFP images showed smoke rising after the attack on the Qasmiyeh bridge, located on the main coastal road linking the Tyre region to the rest of the country.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun described the attack as a "prelude to a ground invasion" and denounced it as "a dangerous escalation and a flagrant violation of Lebanon's sovereignty." Two bridges spanning the same Litani River, which flows through Lebanon about 30 kilometers from the Israeli border, had already been targeted on Wednesday.

Nuclear concerns

While Israel and the United States claim to have significantly weakened the Iranian regime since launching their offensive on February 28, Tehran continues its attacks and threats. Growing concern revolves around attacks targeting nuclear sites.

The war is entering a "perilous phase," warned World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on X, urging "all parties to exercise maximum military restraint and avoid any action that could trigger nuclear incidents."

On Saturday evening, two particularly destructive Iranian strikes injured more than a hundred people in southern Israel. One of the missiles hit a residential area a few kilometers from a strategic nuclear research center in Dimona, a top-secret site.

Israel is considered the only nuclear-armed country in the Middle East but maintains a policy of "strategic ambiguity" on the subject. By targeting Dimona, Iran said it was retaliating against an "enemy" strike on one of its nuclear complexes at Natanz, south of Tehran.

After each of these strikes, the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, urged "maximum military restraint".