A normal view of Tehran with smoke seen within the distance after explosions had been reported within the metropolis, on March 2, 2026 in Tehran, Iran.
Contributor | Getty Photos
U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to destroy Iran’s bridges and energy vegetation, saying the “New Regime management is aware of what needs to be carried out, and needs to be carried out, FAST!” in a Reality Social put up.
Trump didn’t elaborate on what wanted to be “carried out,” however stated the U.S. “hasn’t even began destroying what’s left in Iran.”
Hours later, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim information company reportedly claimed {that a} U.S. F-35 fighter jet was shot down over central Iran. Photos of the jet had been posted on Telegram, with one photograph that appeared to point out the phrases “U.S. Air Forces in Europe” on what gave the impression to be the tail part of a aircraft.
The U.S. Central Command, which oversees the area, and Iranian authorities didn’t reply to a request for remark on the time of publication.
Trump’s newest risk got here a day after a nationwide tackle by which he stated the U.S. army would hit Iran “extraordinarily exhausting” for the following two or three weeks. He added that the U.S. would “convey them again to the Stone Ages the place they belong.”
Hours after his speech, Iranian International Minister Abbas Araghchi struck a defiant tone on X, saying that “there was no oil or fuel being pumped within the Center East again then,” referring to Trump’s stone age remarks.
“Are POTUS and People who put him in workplace certain that they wish to flip again the clock?” Araghchi stated.
Iran has successfully shut tanker visitors by means of the Strait of Hormuz, an important world oil route, after the U.S. and Israel attacked the nation on Feb. 28.
‘Stone age’ threats
Trump has repeatedly threatened to ship Iran again to the “stone age” because the warfare entered its second month and the U.S. army build-up within the Center East confirmed no indicators of slowing.
Regardless of experiences of overtures from the U.S., together with ceasefires and a 15-point peace plan to finish the warfare, Iran has publicly contradicted a number of experiences about negotiations with the Trump administration on quite a few events.
Tehran had described the 15-point proposal as “extraordinarily maximalist and unreasonable,” in keeping with an Al Jazeera report on March 25, citing a high-ranking diplomatic supply.
Trump stated Wednesday that Iran’s “New Regime President” had requested Washington for a ceasefire, a declare that Tehran has denied. Trump has not specified who the “President” is.
“We are going to think about when Hormuz Strait is open, free, and clear. Till then, we’re blasting Iran into oblivion or, as they are saying, again to the Stone Ages!!!,” he wrote.
Assaults on energy vegetation may represent a warfare crime and violate worldwide regulation, authorized specialists stated.
In a letter dated Thursday and signed by over 100 regulation specialists, the group stated worldwide regulation prohibits assaults on “objects indispensable to the survival of civilians, and the assaults threatened by Trump, if carried out, may entail warfare crimes.”
Trump had additionally earlier stated that he may goal water desalination vegetation in Iran.
China, Russia and France veto
The Gulf Cooperation Council on Thursday referred to as on the United Nations Safety Council to take “all crucial measures to make sure the speedy cessation of Iranian aggressions in opposition to the Council states.”
The six international locations within the Gulf Cooperation Council — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — have come beneath assault from Iranian missiles and drones because the warfare entered its second month.
The Kuwait Petroleum Company stated that its Mina al-Ahmadi refinery was hit by drones early on Friday.
Jassim Albudaiwi, Secretary-Basic of the Gulf Cooperation Council, stated that whereas the bloc doesn’t search warfare, Iran had “exceeded all pink traces” and described Tehran’s assaults as “treacherous.”
Bahrain, the present rotating president of the Safety Council, has led an effort to cross a U.N. decision to authorize “all crucial means” to guard industrial transport in and across the Strait of Hormuz.
However the proposal reportedly stalled after veto-wielding Safety Council members China, Russia and France objected to the draft decision, which might have approved army motion in opposition to Iran.