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Iran threatens ‘oil-gas shortage year’ for the world after Trump's expletives
Iran replied said so-called “power plant day” would mean the next day will be “power cut day in the region”, and 2026 will be“Oil & Gas Shortage Year”.
Iran has hit back with a global warning after US President Donald Trump launched an expletive-laden threat ahead of a Tuesday “deadline” he has set for reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway through which a fifth of the world's oil supplies usually pass.
Trump had said the US will hit energy infrastructure inside Iran if the strait isn't unblockaded. He said on Sunday, “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin' Strait, you crazy bastards, or you'll be living in Hell - JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah,” ending his Truth Social post with a Muslim prayer phrase.
Iran replied that the so-called “power plant day” would mean the next day, Wednesday, “will be Power Cut Day in the region”, and the year 2026 thus “will be Oil & Gas Shortage Year in the World”.
“[Trump] is a threat for global peace and energy security. The 25th Amendment is there for a reason,” Iran said via the X handle of its consulate in India's Hyderabad — referring to the provision in the US Constitution that deals with situations when a President dies, resigns, or is unable to discharge duties.
The X post carried a hashtag for “True Promise 4”, Iran's name for the war launched by the US and Israel on February 28.
Strait at centre of it
The threat of global oil and gas shortage comes at a time when Iran is completely controlling passage via the Hormuz Strait, and has reiterated that it is closed only to its enemies. So far, Asian countries like India and Pakistan, besides China, and even European countries like France and Spain have had their oil vessels pass through.
But Trump continues to rage over it as the overall shortage hits global markets.
On Sunday, after the US carried out a daring rescue operation for an airman stuck behind enemy lines after Iran shot down an F-15 fighter jet, President Trump followed up with his fresh warning laced with expletives.
Iran did not deny that the rescue was a success. Yet, it fired multiple salvos with memes and taunts, plus invoking an American failure from 46 years ago, on social media.
Iran's many taunts
"History repeats itself. Operation Eagle Claw, a historic US military failure in Iran's Tabas Desert. April 24, 1980," posted Iran's embassy in South Africa, one of the most prolific official accounts in the propaganda battle. The X post had an image referencing the 1980 Desert One disaster. That failure is believed to have given birth to the US Navy SEAL Team Six, the elite force that carried out the rescue this weekend.
The Islamic Republic's diplomatic missions, in fact, launched a coordinated social media offensive, while Trump threatened to target Iran's power plants and bridges.
Iran's embassy in Thailand posted a rebuke: “We know that some Americans swear, but is this the best and finest of you as POTUS? Is this how you want to be represented in the world? Language!”
The Iranian embassy in Zimbabwe was more deadpan: "Trump, please talk. We are bored."
The embassy in Thailand also posted: "Judging by how POTUS swears like a teenager, it seems the US has reached the Stone Age sooner than expected," referring to Trump and war secretary Pete Hegseth's claims that the US would “send Iran to the Stone Age”.
