EXPLAINERThe region is on edge as Trump’s 48-hour deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face attacks on power plants nears. Published On 23 Mar 202623 Mar 2026The war launched by the United States and Israel against Iran entered its 24th day on Monday.On Sunday, Iran said it would strike the energy and water systems of its Gulf neighbours if US President Donald Trump followed through with a threat to hit Iran’s electricity grid, which would mark a serious escalation in the war. Trump’s 48-hour deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face attacks on its power plants ends at 23:44 GMT on Monday — 3:14am on Tuesday for Iran.On Monday, stocks in China and Hong Kong were on track for their worst day in nearly a year as the escalating war in the Middle East fanned stagflation fears and roiled global financial markets.United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called for an emergency meeting later in the day as the economic fallout from the war mounts.Meanwhile, attacks have continued in Iran, Israel and in the Gulf countries. Here is what is happening.In Iran
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) threatened to retaliate if power plants were targeted, hitting power plants in Israel as well as those supplying electricity to the US bases in the region.
The Israeli military said it launched a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting infrastructure in Tehran. Powerful explosions were reported in the central, southern and eastern parts of the capital. Footage, verified by Al Jazeera, shows columns of fire and smoke rising over the city of Karaj, west of Tehran, following an air attack.
One person was killed in a US-Israeli attack on a 100-kilowatt AM transmitter of the Islamic Republ …
