This move comes as a direct response to calls from state officials to protect critical infrastructure, as the ultimatum from U.S. President Donald Trump expires. The video shows a crowd of people unfurling a massive Iranian flag over a bridge, while march participants wave smaller flags. This is a symbolic yet desperate action by citizens after Alireza Rahimi, secretary of the National Youth Council, publicly called on youth, students, athletes, and artists to form human shields around power plants and bridges across the country.
Trump’s Ultimatum and the Strait of Hormuz The backdrop to these scenes is sharp threats from Washington. U.S. President Donald Trump warned that "an entire civilization will die tonight" if Tehran does not accept an agreement that includes reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Blocking this strategic passage, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil passes in peacetime, is dealing heavy blows to the global economy.
Trump threatened the complete destruction of Iranian power plants and bridges if traffic through the strait is not normalized. Although Trump left minimal room for a diplomatic solution in his statements, saying that "something revolutionary and beautiful might happen," the rhetoric has been heated to the extreme.
Attacks on Infrastructure Already Underway The situation on the ground has already escalated significantly. According to White House sources, U.S. forces have already struck two bridges, a railway station, and military targets at Iran’s oil hub, Khark Island. This is the second time this island has been targeted, following earlier strikes on air defense systems and airports.
Simultaneously, Israel is continuously carrying out attacks aimed at weakening Iran’s economy, hitting petrochemical facilities in Shiraz and advising Iranian citizens to avoid the railway network.
In response, Iran has launched ballistic missiles at Israel and Saudi Arabia, leading to the interception of missiles above Saudi energy facilities and the temporary closure of the King Fahd Causeway, the only land route between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian posted on X, claiming that as many as 14 million Iranians have volunteered to fight and announcing that he will join them. At the same time, the Revolutionary Guard threatened that if Trump follows through on his threats, it will "deprive the U.S. and its allies of oil and gas for years" by spreading attacks across the Gulf.
The international community is urgently calling for tensions to be de-escalated. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s spokesperson warned the U.S. that attacks on civilian and energy infrastructure are strictly prohibited under international law and the rules of war. However, the U.S. president briefly told reporters that the possibility of committing war crimes does not concern him "in the slightest."