Iran has vowed a decisive response to any invasion of its islands or attacks on its power grids.
The US and Israel launched a joint attack on Iran on February 28, 2026, eliminating its Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei along with several top commanders and triggering an Iranian response that involved waves of drone and missile strikes across the region.
So far, the war has killed more than 1,500 people in Iran, more than 1,000 people in Lebanon, 15 in Israel and 13 US military personnel, in addition to several civilians in the Gulf region. It has also displaced millions of people in Lebanon and Iran, according to the Associated Press (AP).
Blocking Arabian Gulf
On Monday, Iran warned it will deploy naval mines across the Arabian Gulf to cut routes in case its southern coast and islands are invaded.
“Any attempt by the enemy to target Iran’s coasts or islands will, naturally and in accordance with established military practice, lead to the mining of all access routes … in the (Arabian) Gulf and along the coasts with various types of sea mines, including floating mines that can be released from the coast,” Iran’s Defense Council said in a statement.
“In this case, the entire Gulf will practically be in a situation similar to the Strait of Hormuz for a long time (…) One should not forget the failure of more than 100 minesweepers in the 1980s in removing a few sea mines,” the statement added, according to Iranian state media.
Tehran’s warning came in response to media reports about the potential deployment of additional US Marines to Middle East, possibly to occupy or blockade Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export hub.
The Defense Council noted that non-belligerent countries could pass through the Strait of Hormuz by coordinating with Iran.
Tit-for-Tat Retaliation
Furthermore, Iran threatened it will target power plants in Israel and across the region if US President Donald Trump carried out his threat to target Iranian electricity sector.
Trump has given Iran a 48-hour deadline, due on Monday evening, to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or the US “will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!” he wrote on Truth Social.
In response, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) warned they will retaliate to any attack by targeting Israel’s power plants as well as regional power plants supplying US bases with electricity.
They also vowed to hit “the economic, industrial and energy infrastructures in which Americans have shares,” according to a statement carried by the Iranian state TV.
“We are determined to respond to any threat at the same level as it creates in terms of deterrence … If you hit electricity, we hit electricity,” the IRGC said.
