Iran issues grim new order to citizens after US strikes ‘hit power plants’ as conflict spirals
Iran has told its citizens to turn off their air conditioners during peak hours due to the strain on the country’s electricity grid due to US attacks.
Tehran’s Ministry of Energy said the power restrictions were necessary ‘to help ensure a stable electricity supply in southern provinces that are currently facing extreme heat and attacks on electricity supply facilities’.
Temperatures in the capital were expected to reach triple digits on Friday, with the highest temperature on Saturday and Sunday expected to be 102F.
Donald Trump ordered the US military to strike Iranian bridges in coastal cities along the Strait of Hormuz. A report in Iranian state media claimed that an American missile hit the island of Qeshm, which is home to a secret ‘missile city’ buried underground. The USA also opened fire on a ship trying to break the blockade.
Trump warned in a Fox News interview that attacks would intensify next week, threatening to expand the campaign to include Iran’s power plants and bridges unless Tehran returns to negotiations.
Iran responded by promising to strike infrastructure in the region if the United States did so, and asked the Houthis in Yemen to prepare to close the Bab al-Mandeb Strait if American forces hit Iran’s energy infrastructure.
The conflict escalated last night with the influence of Iran. Targeted Kuwait’s drinking water and power plants with drones and missiles Embers caused widespread chaos across Iran with devastating attacks on bridges and airports.
Kuwait is an oil-rich desert country where daily life depends on desalination plants that produce about 90 percent of the country’s drinking water by converting seawater in the Gulf.
The US has carried out several waves of attacks against Iran in the past week.
Authorities said that many electricity generation units were damaged in the attack, but fire crews took the fire under control.
Iran has repeatedly threatened Washington’s Gulf allies with drone and missile bombardments since the war broke out in late February; Thursday’s attack was the first time Tehran targeted its energy infrastructure.
In response, the Kuwaiti government has urged residents to ration electricity to ease pressure on the national grid during the summer months as rising temperatures push demand to annual peaks, according to Bloomberg.
It is unclear whether civilians had their electricity cut off following Iran’s attack.
Just hours earlier, Trump ordered the US military to strike Iranian bridges in coastal cities along the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian officials reported Thursday explosions in Bandar Abbas and two explosions in Bushehr, home to Iran’s largest civilian nuclear power plant.
The United States said its forces struck Iran’s command centers, air defense facilities, missile and drone capabilities, and coastal surveillance facilities linked to the war over the Strait of Hormuz.
American forces also tightened the blockade when Marines boarded a ship in the Gulf of Oman.
Iran responded to the US attack by targeting American bases and US allies in the Middle East.
Iran has repeatedly threatened Washington’s Gulf allies with drone and missile attacks since the war broke out in late February.
In response, the Kuwaiti government called on citizens to ration electricity to relieve pressure on the national grid.
Just a few hours earlier, Trump had ordered the US military to strike Iranian bridges in coastal cities along the Strait of Hormuz.
The military also diverted three merchant ships trying to breach the blockade and disabled another.
As a result of the attack, Iran targeted US air bases in Jordan with ballistic missiles in response to an American attack near a children’s facility last week.
Earlier in the week, Tehran claimed responsibility for drone attacks on fuel tanks, a Patriot system, a watchtower and an ammunition depot at a US base in Kuwait and for attacks on Bahrain.
The Strait of Hormuz remains the heart of the conflict, a narrow waterway responsible for a fifth of global oil. Iran attempted to assert control over the waterway and opened fire on ships after Trump reimposed the blockade.
While oil prices are rising rapidly, renewed clashes have resulted in the deaths of at least 30 people since last week.
All of this falls within the scope of the broader 2026 Iran war, which broke out in late February with massive US-Israeli attacks on Iran.
