U.S. Asserts Military Victory as Iran Threatens Regional Energy Infrastructure

U.S. Asserts Military Victory as Iran Threatens Regional Energy Infrastructure

U.S. Claims Military Dominance According to Iran International, an exiled opposition network, U.S. President Donald Trump declared that the United States has won its war against the Islamic Republic, stating that "the job was done in the very first hour." Trump asserted that the Iranian military has lost its functional capabilities and that U.S. forces are operating freely in Iranian airspace. Trump warned that the U.S. military could knock out Iran's power capacity within an hour—an action he claimed would take 25 years to rebuild. He added that the "regime of terrorism and terror is paying a heavy price" after 47 years of inaction, according to the network. Iran Threatens Regional Retaliation Iranian authorities responded with explicit threats of asymmetrical escalation. State-aligned domestic channels, including خبرفوری ࡆ اخبارفوری مذاکره ࡆ جنگ فوری and اخبارفوری خبرفوری جنگ امریکا فوری, amplified these warnings: Regional Blackouts: In response to Trump's remarks about targeting the electrical grid, Ali Larijani, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, warned that any such attack would plunge the entire region into darkness within half an hour. He threatened that this darkness would provide a "good opportunity to hunt fleeing American soldiers in the region." Energy Destruction: Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesman for the IRGC’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, stated that the slightest attack on the Islamic Republic's energy infrastructure or ports would result in a "crushing and devastating response," according to the independent citizen-journalist aggregator Vahid Online. Zolfaghari threatened that all regional oil and gas infrastructure serving the interests of the U.S. and its Western allies would be burned and destroyed.

Vahid Online also noted that Iran has recently escalated attacks on oil tankers and reservoirs aimed at driving up global oil prices.

Israel Pushes for Internal Uprising In a concurrent video address, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mocked Mojtaba Khamenei, the new Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, describing him as a "puppet of the IRGC" who cannot show his face in public. According to Vahid Online, Netanyahu joked that he "wouldn't issue them life insurance," referring to Khamenei and Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem. Netanyahu claimed Israel is delivering severe blows to IRGC and Basij forces and encouraged the Iranian public to overthrow the government. He stated that ongoing Israeli airstrikes are designed to create the optimal conditions and space for citizens to take to the streets.