Dubai, April 7: Facing a looming US deadline, Iran’s president said Tuesday that 14 million Iranians, including himself, have volunteered to sacrifice their lives in the war.
President Masoud Pezeshkian made the comment on X just ahead of US President Donald Trump’s deadline to bomb power stations and bridges in Iran if it doesn’t loosen its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz.
The figure is double other figures mentioned by state media in the past about volunteers the government had been soliciting by text messages and media as the war went on.
Iran is home to 90 million people. Many remain angry at the government over its bloody crackdown on nationwide demonstrations and the 14 million figure likely is aimed at trying to dissuade the promised American bombing campaign.
“More than 14 million Iranian people have declared their readiness to sacrifice their lives in the (self-sacrificing) campaign,” Pezeshkian wrote. “I too have been, am, and will remain ready to give my life for Iran.”
US again strikes Kharg Island
The US again struck the Iranian oil hub of Kharg Island, according to a White House official who was not authorised to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The US hit military targets on the island, the official said Tuesday. The strikes came hours ahead of a deadline President Donald Trump set for Iran to capitulate to his demands or face a major attack.
He said Tuesday morning that “whole civilisation will die tonight” if Iran did not make a deal.
Trump has threatened to deploy ground troops to seize critical oil infrastructure on the island, but experts warn such an operation would cost the lives of many US military members and would not be a decisive move to ending the war.
The US had earlier in the war struck several targets on the island, including air defences, a radar site, an airport and a hovercraft base, according to satellite analysis by the Institute for the Study of War and American Enterprise Institute’s Critical Threats Project.
Earlier Tuesday, the semiofficial Mehr news agency put out a report saying there had been several explosions on Kharg Island, without elaborating.
Over 18 people killed in airstrike targeting Alborz province
An airstrike targeting Iran’s Alborz province, northwest of Tehran, killed at least 18 people, state media reported on Tuesday.
The strike also wounded another 24 people, the judiciary’s Mizan news agency reported.
It wasn’t immediately clear what had been targeted.
A series of intense airstrikes have pounded Iran’s capital, Tehran, including a possible weapons depot in the mountains and residential neighborhoods. The Israelis have conducted a campaign of airstrikes killing top officials in the theocracy and its military.
Iran urges youths to protect power plants
Tensions escalated in the Middle East as Iran fired missiles at Saudi Arabia’s oil-rich Eastern Province, prompting Riyadh to close the King Fahd Causeway, the only road linking it to Bahrain and home to the US 5th Fleet.
The strikes came amid US President Donald Trump’s 8 pm EDT deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, with Trump threatening to bomb Iranian power plants and bridges if the deadline is missed.
Israel also warned Iranians to avoid trains, signaling potential strikes on rail networks. Iran urged youths to form human chains around power plants to protect infrastructure, while rejecting a 45-day US-proposed ceasefire and calling for a permanent end to the war.
The attacks and Iran’s stranglehold on the Strait have driven Brent crude above $111 per barrel, spiking global oil prices.
International warnings have emerged: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres emphasized attacks on civilian infrastructure are illegal, and New Zealand’s PM called any strikes on bridges, power plants, or reservoirs unacceptable.
The regional death toll continues to rise, with over 1,900 killed in Iran, 1,400 in Lebanon, dozens in Gulf states and Israel, and 13 US service members dead, as diplomatic efforts to reach a negotiated solution continue. (AP)
