Published :
Updated :
For all latest news, follow The Financial Express Google News channel.
Saudi Arabia closed the only road linking it to Bahrain on Tuesday after Iran fired missiles at its oil-rich Eastern Province. Tehran's latest strikes came as Iranian officials urged youths to form human chains around power plants to protect them, as the latest deadline set by U.S. President Donald Trump for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz drew closer.
Trump has threatened to bomb all of Iran's power plants and bridges if Iran does not meet his Tuesday 8 p.m. EDT deadline to allow shipping traffic to fully resume through the strategic waterway, through which a fifth of the world's oil transits in peacetime.
"The entire country can be taken out in one night," Trump said.
Iran choked off shipping through the strait after Israel and the U.S. attacked on Feb. 28, starting the war. On Monday, Tehran rejected a 45-day ceasefire proposal and said it wants a permanent end to the war.
Early Tuesday, Tehran launched seven ballistic missiles at Saudi Arabia, which authorities said rained debris on the ground near energy facilities as they were intercepted. Defence Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki said the damage was being assessed.
In the meantime, Saudi Arabia said it was closing the King Fahd Causeway, a bridge that links Saudi Arabia to the island kingdom of Bahrain over the threat of more Iranian attacks targeting the Eastern Province.
The 25-kilometre (15.5 mile) bridge is the only connection by road for Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, to the Arabian Peninsula.
Elsewhere, activists reported a new wave of strikes on Tehran, for which Israel later claimed responsibility. Iran also fired on Israel, with reports of incoming missiles.