President Donald Trump bashed the Iranian regime for encouraging its civilians to form human shields around the country’s power plants on Tuesday.
Ahead of Trump’s looming Tuesday night deadline for Iran to strike a deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz before the United States resumes attacks on Iran’s energy infrastructure, Tehran officials called for Iran’s “young people” to physically help stave off the possible airstrikes. Trump called the move “totally illegal” in a call with NBC News.
“Totally illegal,” Trump said. “They’re not allowed to do that.”
Iran’s youth and adolescents secretary Alireza Rahimi called on university students, professors, and the nation’s youth to form a human chain around the country’s power plants, framing it as a patriotic act. Iranian civilians have used the tactic before to deter Israeli strikes.
“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.
As the Iranian regime calls on its civilians to take part in the war, Trump has warned the regime that irreversible damage could come to Iran and its civilization if the two countries do not strike a deal. On Monday evening, Trump threatened “complete demolition” of Iran’s power plants and bridges, adding that “the entire country can be taken out in one night.”
“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Tuesday morning. “I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.”
As the deadline looms and tensions escalate over the implications for Iranian civilians, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has proposed a deal that the U.S. and Iran are deliberating on. Sharif is calling for Trump to extend the deadline by two weeks and for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz for that two-week period as well.
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Sharif said the peace talks are “progressing steadily, strongly and powerfully with the potential to lead to substantive results in the near future.”
“We also urge all warring parties to observe a ceasefire everywhere for two weeks to allow diplomacy to achieve conclusive termination of war, in the interest of long-term peace and stability in the region,” Sharif said.
