Trump Threatens to Destroy Iran's Power Grid, Warns of Stone Age Consequences

Trump issued his most sweeping civilian infrastructure threat yet, warning during a primetime White House address that the United States would strike "each and every one" of Iran's electric generating plants "very hard and probably simultaneously" if Tehran failed to reach a deal within two to three weeks. The address, delivered April 1 and lasting approximately 19 minutes, marked Day 33 of Operation Epic Fury, the joint U.S.-Israel military campaign launched February 28, 2026.

"Over the next two to three weeks, we're going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong," Trump said, framing the potential strikes as "retribution" for the at least 13 American service members killed since the campaign began. More than 3,000 people have been killed across the region overall.

The threat to the power grid escalated from earlier ultimatums. Trump first targeted Iran's electric infrastructure on March 21, giving Tehran a 48-hour deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and warning the U.S. would hit power plants "starting with the biggest one first." He later pushed that deadline to April 6, citing "productive" talks. On March 30, he added desalination plants to the target list, a move legal experts and human rights organizations say would constitute a war crime under international law.

Marko Milanovic, a professor of public international law at the University of Reading, said strikes on civilian water or power facilities violate international law unless the infrastructure supplies only a military base. Stephen J. Rapp, who served as U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues from 2009 to 2015, was more direct: such strikes would make the U.S. "a rogue state." Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty International's Senior Director of Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns, called the threats "deeply irresponsible" and warned they would "unleash catastrophic harm on millions of civilians."

Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, in effect since March 4, has already reshaped global energy markets. More than one-fifth of the world's oil supply transits the narrow waterway. Brent Crude surged past $120 per barrel following the closure, QatarEnergy declared force majeure on all exports, and oil production from Kuwait, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE collectively dropped by at least 10 million barrels per day as of mid-March. Trump conditioned any ceasefire on the strait being "open, free, and clear," writing on Truth Social: "Until then, we are blasting Iran into oblivion or, as they say, back to the Stone Ages!!!"

Trump told the nation the war was "nearing completion" and claimed Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had requested a ceasefire. The Iranian Foreign Ministry flatly denied it, calling the claim "false and baseless." Pezeshkian had previously stated Iran had the "necessary will" to end the war but required guarantees attacks would stop and not resume. Iran rejected a U.S. 15-point ceasefire proposal on March 25, presenting its own conditions, including compensation for war damages, international recognition of Iranian sovereignty over the Strait, lifting of all sanctions, and closure of U.S. military bases in the Persian Gulf.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that "attacking Iran's infrastructure is a dangerous move with grave consequences." Operation Epic Fury opened with nearly 900 strikes in its first 12 hours on February 28, killing then-Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. His son, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, has since assumed power but has largely stayed out of public view. Trump acknowledged the shift: "Regime change was not our goal... but regime change has occurred because of all of their original leaders' deaths."

In the same address, Trump threatened to withdraw from NATO, adding a second geopolitical fault line to a conflict allied nations have largely declined to join.