Iran calls for ‘young people’ to form human chains around power plants as Trump deadline nears

Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian said 14 million people, including himself, have volunteered to fight.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Iranian officials on Tuesday urged citizens to form human chains around power plants across the country, as a deadline set by U.S. President Donald Trump for Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz approached, with threats of strikes on key infrastructure if it failed to comply.

According to a report by The Washington Post, the call was directed at “all young people, athletes, artists, students and university students and their professors” to gather around energy facilities.

Alireza Rahimi, identified by Iranian state television as the secretary of the Supreme Council of Youth and Adolescents, described the sites as “Power plants that are our national assets and capital,” in a video statement.

The appeal came hours before the expiration of Trump’s latest deadline, set for 8 p.m. in Washington, which he has suggested would be final after extending previous timelines.

Tehran on Monday rejected a ceasefire proposal approved by the United States and mediated by Pakistan that called for a 45-day pause in fighting and a phased resolution that included reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump has warned that failure to allow traffic to resume through the strategic waterway, through which a fifth of the world’s oil transits in peacetime, would result in extensive strikes.

“Every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o’clock tomorrow night,” he said Monday, adding that all power plants would be “burning, exploding and never to be used again.” He also warned that “the entire country can be taken out in one night.”

Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian said 14 million people, including himself, have volunteered to fight.

Iranian citizens have previously formed human chains around nuclear facilities during periods of heightened tensions with Western countries. It was unclear how many would respond to the latest call, and at least one major power plant in Tehran was reportedly closed off for security reasons at the time the demonstration was expected to begin.