Trump threatens to destroy drinking-water infrastructure in explosive new Iran threat

President Donald Trump erupted on social media Monday morning with a series of new threats against Iran, including a threat to “possibly” destroy their ability to produce clean drinking water.

As the U.S. war against Iran continues to send oil prices skyrocketing, Trump has reportedly been looking for a way out of the conflict he himself initiated late last month after authorizing Operation Epic Fury. Although Trump has repeatedly claimed to be in peace talks with Iranian officials, Tehran has denied those claims, and said they have ignored the Trump administration’s attempts to restart negotiations.

“Great progress has been made [in discussions with Iran] but, if for any reason a deal is not shortly reached, which it probably will be, and if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately ‘Open for Business,’ we will conclude our lovely ‘stay’ in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!), which we have purposefully not yet ‘touched,’” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.

Earlier this month, Trump issued Iran a 48-hour deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz – a crucial shipping channel – to U.S.-aligned sea vessels, along with the threat that if his demand was not met, the United States would destroy Iran’s power plants. Trump ultimately walked that threat back, extending the deadline by five days, and again by another five days.

Trump’s new threat issued Monday is the president’s first open threat to target desalination plants, which are facilities used to produce clean drinking water.

“This will be in retribution for our many soldiers, and others, that Iran has butchered and killed over the old Regime’s 47 year ‘Reign of Terror,’” Trump continued. “Thank you for your attention to this matter.”