Iranian officials are urging young people to form human chains around power plants ahead of a looming deadline set by US President Donald Trump.
The president has threatened to bomb all of Iran’s power plants and bridges if the nation fails to meet his Tuesday 8 pm EDT deadline to fully restore shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
The waterway is a critical choke point, through which a fifth of the world’s oil transits in peacetime.
Iran had previously cut off shipping through the strait following attacks by Israel and the US on 28 February, which marked the beginning of the current conflict.
“The entire country can be taken out in one night,” Mr Trump declared.
In a clear sign of impending strikes, Israel’s military issued warnings in Farsi, advising Iranians to avoid train travel throughout the day.
“Your presence puts your life at risk,” the message posted on X read.
Iran called on “all young people, athletes, artists, students and university students and their professors” to form human chains around power plants ahead of the threatened strikes.
Alireza Rahimi, identified by Iranian state television as the secretary of the Supreme Council of Youth and Adolescents, issued a video call, saying: “Power plants that are our national assets and capital, regardless of any taste or political viewpoint, belong to the future of Iran and to the Iranian youth.”
Iran has previously used human chains around its nuclear sites during periods of heightened tensions with Western nations.
Later, a Revolutionary Guard general urged parents to send their children to man checkpoints, which have been repeatedly targeted in airstrikes.
France joined a growing international chorus calling for restraint from Mr Trump, with Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot saying that attacks targeting civilian and energy infrastructure “are barred by the rules of war, international law”.
He added on France Info television: “They would without doubt trigger a new phase of escalation, of reprisals, that would drag the region and the world economy into a vicious circle that would be very worrying and, most of all, very damaging to our own interests.”
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon also urged Mr Trump not to proceed, telling Radio New Zealand that the “focus needs to be on not seeing this conflict expand any further”.
