General view of Riyadh city during the early hour of evening at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on May 28, 2025. (File photo: Reuters/Hamad I Mohammed)
06 Aug 2026 10:15PM
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia: Iran intensified its threats towards its Gulf neighbours last week, conveying messages that it would "black out" the entire region if the United States struck its power plants and rattling off a list of specific targets, two officials told AFP.The warning followed threats by US President Donald Trump of a massive attack against Iran, which he later walked back over the weekend citing requests from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar and hope for a breakthrough in talks."Iran threatened to black out the Gulf, country by country, if Trump attacked its power plants," a Gulf official told AFP, with another regional official confirming the messaging.Both spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
Trump said the planned strikes would have been "the biggest attack since World War II", with US media reporting he was considering hitting energy infrastructure, as he has repeatedly threatened to do.Iran conveyed through intermediaries that any attacks on its power plants would trigger strikes on the same targets in the Gulf, the officials said.It had publicly made such threats before, but the new one was "very serious", the Gulf official said, noting it included "a long list of targets they would attack".
