<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="http://9news.com.au/iran" rel="" target="" title="Iran"><span>Iran</span></a><span> has warned it will strike electrical plants across the </span><a href="http://9news.com.au/middle-east" rel="" target="" title="Middle East"><span>Middle East</span></a><span> if </span><a href="http://9news.com.au/usa" rel="" target="" title="US"><span>US</span></a><span> President </span><a href="http://9news.com.au/donald-trump" rel="" target="" title="Donald Trump"><span>Donald Trump</span></a><span> follows through on his thr</span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/us-israel-iran-war-donald-trump-threatens-to-obliterate-iran-power-plants/55c941e2-e4d0-4da8-a4f9-bfeb4f529903" rel="" target="" title="eat to bomb power stations"><span>eat to bomb power stations</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Islamic Republic threatened to mine the whole Persian Gulf if it was invaded.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Monday warning by Tehran, which threatened to mine the whole Persian Gulf if it was invaded, puts at risk both electrical supplies and water in the Gulf Arab states, particularly as the desert nations commingle their power stations with desalination plants crucial for supplying drinking water.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/fuel-shortage-how-much-does-australia-have-left-explained/f266e2d2-6b91-4166-8f7e-bb424620cc09"><strong><span>The big question all of Australia is asking</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Over the weekend, </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/dozens-injured-in-israel-after-iranian-missile-strikes-target-areas-near-nuclear-research-center/8338e254-51a9-4cdb-bda8-8a7189f5f1b8" rel="" target="" title="Iran launched missiles targeting Dimona in Israel"><span>Iran launched missiles targeting Dimona in Israel</span></a><span>, near a facility key to its long-suspected atomic weapons program. The Israeli facility was not damaged in the barrage.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><span>Tehran says it will mine Persian Gulf if invaded</span></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>As concerns grow in Tehran about the potential arrival of US Marines in the region, Iran's Defence Council warned against the idea of an invasion.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/us-israel-attacks-iran-after-donald-trumps-48hour-deadline-iran-threatens-to-start-hitting-gulf-power-plants-and-mine-waters/d86936cf-ab6f-40ae-be34-efc1f0a60a98" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"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 Persian Gulf and along the coasts," it said in a statement.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The US has been trying to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, to energy shipments. The Marines could come ashore to seize either islands or territory in Iran to support that mission. Israel also has suggested a ground operation could take part in the war.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump said the US would attack Iran's power stations unless the country releases its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz. His self-declared 48-hour deadline expires on Tuesday morning (AEDT),</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/rba-governor-michele-bullock-settled-on-multi-million-dollar-home-same-day-as-rate-hike-march-17/9e72bbdf-93b6-4bff-8173-cfec71f1f7e6"><strong><span>RBA boss buys luxury holiday house on rate hike day</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump said in a social media post at the weekend that if Tehran did not open the strategic waterway to all ships, the </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/us-israel-iran-war-donald-trump-threatens-to-obliterate-iran-power-plants/55c941e2-e4d0-4da8-a4f9-bfeb4f529903" rel="" target="" title="United States would &quot;obliterate&quot; Iran's power plants"><span>United States would "obliterate" Iran's power plants</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said on Monday that if the US did that, Iran would respond by hitting power plants in all areas that supply electricity to American bases, "as well as the economic, industrial and energy infrastructures in which Americans have shares".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Do not doubt that we will do this," the Guard said in a statement read on Iranian state television.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Fars news agency, which is close to the Revolutionary Guard, published a list of such sites in what appeared to be a veiled threat, including desalination plants as well as the UAE's Barakah nuclear power plant, which has four reactors out in the western deserts of the country near its border with Saudi Arabia. The judiciary's Mizan news agency also published the list.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Iran has also said it will completely close the strait if Trump follows through with the threat to attack Iranian power plants.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf also said Iran would then consider vital infrastructure across the region — including energy and desalination facilities critical for drinking water in Gulf nations — legitimate targets.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/queensland-kids-worse-off-than-rest-of-the-country-housing-health-education-research-cost-of-living-news/5b49107e-6e8c-4687-85ea-d499a84a58fb" rel="" target="" title=""><strong><span>Kids in this state are worse off than rest of the country, report claims</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><span>'No country will be immune': IEA boss speaks in Australia</span></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The threats further raise the stakes of the ongoing war with Iran that has disrupted global energy supplies, sending natural gas and petrol prices soaring.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"No country will be immune to the effects of this crisis if it continues to go in this direction," said Fatih Birol, the head of the Paris-based International Energy Agency.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He told Australia's National Press Club in Canberra on Monday that the crisis in the Middle East has had a worse impact on energy markets than the two oil shocks of the 1970s and the Russia-Ukraine war combined.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Jorge Moreira da Silva, a senior United Nations official, said the world has already seen a ripple effect, including "exponential price hikes in oil, fuel and gas", having a far-reaching impact on millions, primarily in Asian and African developing countries.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"There is no military solution," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Israel launched new attacks on Monday on the Iranian capital, saying it had "begun a wide-scale wave of strikes" on infrastructure targets in Tehran without immediately elaborating.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>United States Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper claimed Iran was launching missiles and drones from populated areas, and suggested those areas would be targeted.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"You need to stay inside for right now," Cooper told Iranian civilians in the interview with the Farsi-language satellite network Iran International aired early on Monday.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"There will be a clear signal at some point, as the president has indicated, for you to be able to come out."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Air defences in the United Arab Emirates intercepted a ballistic missile near the Al Dhafra Air Base in Abu Dhabi, and one person on the ground was injured when hit with shrapnel.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Warning sirens sounded in Bahrain and Kuwait, while Saudi Arabia's Defence Ministry said it had intercepted a missile targeting Riyadh, and had destroyed drones over the kingdom's oil-rich Eastern Province.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><span>Oil prices up more than 50 per cent since start of the war</span></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Oil prices remained stubbornly high in early trading, with the price of Brent crude, the international standard at around $US112 ($161) a barrel, up nearly 55 per cent since Israel and the US started the war on February 28 by attacking Iran.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The war has also caused wild fluctuations in global stock markets as traders grow increasingly concerned about a world energy crisis and other issues.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In addition to targeting Israel and American bases, Iran has been hitting the energy infrastructure of its Gulf Arab neighbours.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It also has a tight grip on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which leads from the Persian Gulf toward the open ocean and through which a fifth of the world's oil is shipped, along with other important commodities.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A trickle of ships has been getting through the strait and Iran insists it remains open — just not to the US, Israel or their allies such as Australia.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h2><span>US commander says campaign against Iran is "ahead or on plan"</span></h2></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In his first one-on-one interview since the war started, Admiral Cooper said the campaign against Iran is "ahead or on plan" and that the US and Israel were targeting infrastructure and manufacturing facilities to destroy Iran's capabilities to rebuild its military.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It's not just about the threat today," he said. "We're eliminating the threat of the future, both in terms of the drones, the missiles as well as the navy."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He suggested Iran could bring a quick end to the war if it stopped firing back, though did not say whether that would prompt Israel and the US to relent before all infrastructure targets have been destroyed.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"They could stop this war right now, absolutely, if they chose to do so," he said of Iran. "They need to stop putting the wonderful Iranian people at risk by firing missiles and drones from inside populated areas. ... They need to stop immediately attacking civilians throughout the Middle East region."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Iran's death toll in the war has surpassed 1500, its health ministry has said. In Israel, 15 people have been killed by Iranian strikes. More than a dozen civilians in the occupied West Bank and Gulf Arab states have been killed in strikes.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In Lebanon, authorities say Israeli strikes targeting Iran-linked militia Hezbollah have killed more than 1000 people and displaced more than 1 million. Meanwhile, Hezbollah has fired hundreds of rockets into Israel.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><em><strong><span>NEVER MISS A STORY: </span></strong></em><em><span>Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.</span></em></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><ul><li><em><strong><span>Download the 9NEWS App here via </span></strong></em><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727" rel="" target="" title=""><em><strong><span>Apple</span></strong></em></a><em><strong><span> and </span></strong></em><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&amp;hl=en_AU&amp;pli=1" rel="" target="" title=""><em><strong><span>Google Play</span></strong></em></a><em></em></li><li><em><strong><span>Make 9News your preferred source on Google by </span></strong></em><a href="https://9.nine.com.au/8x987w" rel="" target="" title=""><em><strong><span>ticking this box here</span></strong></em></a><em></em></li><li><em><strong><span>Sign up to </span></strong></em><a href="https://login.nine.com.au/edm?client_id=nineatnine" rel="" target="" title=""><em><strong><span>our breaking newsletter here</span></strong></em></a><em></em></li></ul></div></div>