ARAD, Israel (AP) — Iran and the allied Lebanese militant group Hezbollah stepped up attacks on Israel on Sunday as the United States and Iran threatened to target critical infrastructure in the war in the Middle East, now in its fourth week.
Iran said the Strait of Hormuz, crucial to oil and other exports, would be “completely closed” immediately if the U.S. follows up on President Donald Trump ‘s new threat to attack its power plants. Trump late Saturday set a 48-hour deadline to open the strait. Iran’s parliament speaker said Tehran also would retaliate against U.S. and Israeli energy and wider infrastructure.
Israeli leaders visited one of two southern communities near a secretive nuclear research site struck by Iranian missiles late Saturday, with scores of people wounded. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was a “miracle” no one was killed.
He also claimed Israel and the U.S. were well on their way to achieving their war goals and asked the world for more support. The aims have ranged from weakening Iran’s nuclear program, missile program and support for armed proxies to enabling the Iranian people to overthrow the theocracy.