Tehran vows to ‘completely close’ Hormuz if power plants hit

Iran says it will completely shut the Strait of Hormuz and launch retaliatory attacks on regional energy and water infrastructure if the US attacks its power plants.
Israeli forces blow up the Qasimiyah Bridge in south Lebanon, in an attack President Joseph Aoun says is a “prelude to ground invasion”.
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Israel launches “extensive” strikes on Iran, with powerful explosions reported in Tehran and a child killed in the city of Khorramabad.
One person was killed in Bandar Abbas, while casualties and damage were reported in the city of Urmia. Fires were also seen in the city of Karaj.
Fatih Birol, the head of the IEA, warns that the situation in the Middle East is “very severe” and is worse than the two energy crises of the 1970s put together.
Asian stock markets tumble as South Korea’s won dips to a 17-year low amid threats of a prolonged US-Israeli war against Iran and an extended closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Saudi Arabia says it has intercepted a ballistic missile heading towards Riyadh as UAE announced that an Indian national was injured by falling debris in Abu Dhabi.
IRGC says threat to hit power plants is aimed at deterring US attacks
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is pushing back against what it said were false claims by the US that Tehran intends to destroy water desalination plants in the Gulf region.

“What we have done is to announce our decision that in the event of an attack on power plants, Iran will retaliate by targeting the power plants of the occupying regime [Israel] and the power plants of the countries in the region that supply power to American bases, and at the same time, the economic, industrial and energy infrastructure in which the Americans are shareholders,” it said.

“You hit our hospital, we didn’t do that. You hit our aid centres, we didn’t do that; you hit our schools, we didn’t do that. But if you hit the electricity, we will hit the electricity,” it said.

The IRGC said it would react to any threat in kind to deter those attacks.

“We are determined to respond to any threat at the same level of deterrence that it creates, and we will do so. America does not know our capabilities and will see in the field,” it added.More Asian stocks down as Trump’s ultimatum on Iran nears
More Asian stocks have tumbled as US President Donald Trump and Iranian leaders traded threats of strikes and counter-strikes risking a prolonged war and closure of the key Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of the world’s oil supplies transit.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index is down by 3.3 percent at 24,435.74, while the Shanghai Composite decreased by 2.3 percent at 3,867.51.

Singapore’s Straits Times Index is also down by 2.1 percent at 4,884.710 as of 0400 GMT on Monday. The Philippine Stock Exchange is also down by 3.17 percent while the Stock Exchange of Thailand is down 2.15 percent.

Earlier, we reported that Tokyo’s Nikkei average was down by 3.4 to 3.5 percentage points at 51,582.23.