Iran’s parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf dismissed Trump’s recent threats of targeting Iran’s infrastructure as “reckless” in a social media post on Sunday.
“You won’t gain anything through war crimes,” Qalibaf wrote on X. “The only real solution is respecting the rights of the Iranian people and ending this dangerous game.”
Tehran’s mission to the UN called the open threats to target civilian infrastructure “a direct and public incitement to terrorize civilians and clear evidence of intent to commit war crime.”
“The international community and all States have legal obligations to prevent such atrocious acts of war crimes,” the mission said in a post on the social platform X. “They must act now. Tomorrow is too late.”
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi also said that Trump’s threats to strike power plants and bridges in Iran could amount to war crimes.
“The American president, as the highest official of his country, has publicly threatened to commit war crimes,” Gharibabadi said in a post on X, citing provisions of international law that could be breached.
“The threat to attack power plants and bridges (civilian infrastructure) is a war crime under Article 8(2)(b) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court,” he added.
Iran’s ally Russia also condemned Trump’s threat.
Moscow said Washington should abandon “the language of ultimatums” and return to negotiations, according to a Russian readout of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s latest call with his Iranian counterpart.
A former foreign minister and adviser to the supreme leader warned Sunday that “the resistance front” could target the Bab El-Mandeb Strait off the Red Sea, through which about 12 percent of the world’s trade typically passes.
“If the White House thinks of repeating its stupid mistakes, it will quickly realize that the flow of global energy and trade can be disrupted with a single signal,” Ali Akbar Velayati said on social media, signaling possible closure of the vital waterway if the US escalates attacks.
Iran leads the so-called “Axis of Resistance,” which includes armed groups in Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen, where Houthi rebels had in the past cut off transit through Bab El-Mandeb with attacks on vessels.
Iran has effectively stopped cargo traffic through the Strait of Hormuz during the conflict, leading to higher oil and gas prices globally.
Iran floats a new condition for Strait of Hormuz reopening
Seyyed Mohammad Mehdi Tabatabaei, a presidential spokesperson, wrote Sunday on the social platform X that the reopening of the vital waterway can only happen if transit revenues are partially earmarked to compensate Iran for war damages.
There has been growing alarm over Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz, critical for shipments of oil and gas from the Persian Gulf to Europe and Asia. Trump has threatened to attack Iran’s infrastructure if it fails to reopen the strait by Monday.
Iranian government minister dismisses Trump threat in AP interview
Iran’s culture minister has dismissed President Donald Trump’s latest threats, calling the US leader an “unstable, delusional figure.”
“Iranian society generally does not pay attention to his statements, as it believes he lacks personal, behavioral and verbal balance, and constantly shifts between contradictory positions,” Sayed Reza Salihi-Amiri told The Associated Press in an interview Sunday.
Trump on Sunday said he would strike Iran’s power plants and bridges this Tuesday if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed to marine traffic. In an expletive-laden post, Trump promised the Iranians would be “living in Hell” if the waterway isn’t opened.
“It seems Trump has become a phenomenon that neither Iranians nor Americans are able to fully analyze,” said Salihi-Amiri.
He said the Strait of Hormuz is “open to the world but closed to Iran’s enemies.”
