Iran War Live Updates: Trump Threatens Iran’s Power Plants if Strait of Hormuz Does Not Open

 

Late Saturday, Iranian missiles evaded Israel’s formidable air defenses and struck Dimona and the nearby city of Arad, shattering buildings, injuring dozens of people and demonstrating that Tehran can still inflict damage even after three weeks of devastating airstrikes from the United States and Israel.

Iran War Live Updates: Trump Threatens Iran’s Power Plants if Strait of Hormuz Does Not Open

President Trump’s ultimatum comes after Iranian missiles struck two cities in southern Israel, including one near the country’s main nuclear research center.

 

Pranav Baskar Aaron Boxerman Julian E. Barnes Eric Schmidt and David E. Sanger

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/03/22/world/iran-war-oil-trump

 

Here’s the latest.

President Trump stepped up pressure on Iran, warning late Saturday that the United States would strike the country’s power plants if it did not open the Strait of Hormuz, even as Iran signaled it was not backing down and launched a new round of attacks on Israel.

 

Late Saturday, Iranian missiles evaded Israel’s formidable air defenses and struck Dimona and the nearby city of Arad, shattering buildings, injuring dozens of people and demonstrating that Tehran can still inflict damage even after three weeks of devastating airstrikes from the United States and Israel.

 

In a social media post, Trump issued an ultimatum, warning that U.S. forces would “obliterate” Iran’s power plants if the country did not open the strait, a major oil route, within 48 hours. Iranian officials appeared to respond with their own warning, and threatened to target U.S. and allied energy assets in the region if their facilities were attacked.

 

Trump’s bellicose comments came after days of inconsistent messaging. He told reporters on Friday he had no interest in a cease-fire, but posted hours later on social media that “we are getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down our great Military efforts in the Middle East.”

 

Tehran, however, showed no sign it intended to back down.

 

Dimona, one of the cities struck by Iran, is eight miles from Israel’s main nuclear research center, which is believed by researchers to be connected to the country’s nuclear weapons program. The explosives hit residential structures and people were trapped inside buildings, Israel’s emergency rescue service said.

 

Iran’s state broadcaster said early Sunday that the strike on Dimona was intended to target the nuclear facility, though U.N. officials said there was no evidence it had been damaged. The Tasnim news agency, which is affiliated with Iran’s security forces, reported that the missile had been fired in retaliation for airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facility in Natanz earlier on Saturday and on the Bushehr nuclear power plant on Tuesday.

 

Later Saturday, even more damage was done in Arad, about 25 miles northeast of Dimona, where a ballistic missile left 10 people seriously injured.

 

Here’s what else to follow today:

Failed attack: Iran fired two missiles on Friday at the Diego Garcia base in the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean, according to a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. One missile failed mid-flight, and the other was shot down by an American warship, the official said.

 

Death tolls: Iran’s U.N. ambassador has said that at least 1,348 civilians had been killed since the start of the war. On Friday, a Washington-based group, the Human Rights Activists News Agency, reported that at least 1,398 civilians had been killed. The number of Lebanese killed rose to more than 1,000, Lebanon’s health ministry said on Thursday. At least 14 people have been killed in Iranian attacks on Israel, officials have said. The American death toll stood at 13 service members.