(Bloomberg) — US President Donald Trump gave Iran a two-day deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or have its power plants bombed, upping the ante in a war that’s showing no sign of de-escalation into its fourth week.

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Trump, under pressure to bring down soaring oil prices, said Iran must “fully open, without threat,” the vital waterway for energy flows. He gave the Islamic Republic 48 hours “from this exact point in time,” in a Truth Social post sent at 7:44 p.m. New York time on Saturday.

Iran countered that — if its power facilities do come under attack — it would close the Strait of Hormuz “completely,” state TV reported on Sunday, citing a statement from army command. The passage has been effectively shut since the US and Israel began attacking Iran on Feb. 28, though vessels from certain countries have managed to get through.

The Iranian military will target “all energy, information technology, and desalination infrastructure belonging to the US and the Israeli regime in the region,” the semi-official Tasnim news agency said. Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, added in a social media post that the headquarters and assets of financial entities that buy US Treasury bonds are “legitimate targets.”

The rhetoric suggests neither side is willing to back down, with the war having already triggered an unprecedented oil and gas supply crisis.The latest threats follow a week of heavy hits on crucial energy infrastructure in the Middle East, deepening the prospect of the fighting having a long-term impact on the global economy.

The latest threats left even some in Trump’s Republican Party uneasy over a possible escalation.

“When Israel bombed a non military target, bombed an energy target, the president was not filtered in saying how displeased he was,” Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said Sunday. “Now we would be the ones that would supposedly be moving to this. I certainly hope not, because I think it, it escalates the conflict to another level.”

She added, “When you move to that next level where you have troops on the ground, we’re talking a different level of conflict than when the administration had briefed us.”

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said ongoing attacks on Iran are aimed at destroying its fortifications along the Strait of Hormuz. Trump will “take whatever steps it takes” to achieve goals including destroying Iran’s air force and navy, denying it the ability to have nuclear weapons and “their ability to project power internationally,” Bessent said Sunday on NBC’s

Oil and gas flows are likely to take time to return to normal levels even after the Strait of Hormuz reopens, with many production sites damaged. The blockages are also causing shortages of fertilizer and crop nutrients, raising the prospect of critical disruptions to food output.

The US and Israel continued to target sites in Iran on Sunday, including around the capital, Tehran. The Islamic Republic is firing missiles and drones at Israel and Arab Gulf nations.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his country’s military objectives, telling reporters the aims are to “break completely their nuclear program, break completely their missile program.” He added that Israel has “a goal of creating conditions” for Iranians to overthrow their leaders.

David Amsalem, a minister in Netanyahu’s security cabinet, said it’s unclear whether Trump will follow through on his latest ultimatum. “Look, ultimately, Trump doesn’t tell us — or certainly not me — what he’s about to do,” Amsalem told Galey Israel radio. “He’s the one setting the tempo here.”

The Iranian regime isn’t close to falling and officials are coalescing around the remaining leaders, according to Western intelligence assessments and people familiar with the matter.

More than 4,000 people have been killed in the war throughout the region, according to governments and non-government agencies, with more than three quarters of the fatalities in Iran. In Lebanon, where Israel has stepped up an offensive against Iran-backed Hezbollah militants, the toll is over 1,000. Dozens of people have been killed in Israel and Arab states.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Sunday warned that Israel’s targeting of infrastructure and vital facilities in southern Lebanon could be “a prelude to a ground invasion.”

Iran’s missile strikes against Israel have picked up in recent days. On Saturday, about 115 people were injured in the southern cities of Arad and Dimona, which lends its name to a nearby nuclear research facility. Iranian media said it was a retaliation against an attack on its Natanz nuclear facility.

Speaking on Sunday, Netanyahu called on the leaders of other countries to join the war. “I’m happy to say that I can see some of them beginning to move in that direction,” he said.

Trump’s latest warning to Iran came a day after he said he was thinking about “winding down” military operations and that the responsibility for policing Hormuz would fall to other countries. That typified the mixed signals that have come from the president throughout the war, leaving governments and markets scrambling to keep up.

Traffic through Hormuz, through which one fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies normally flow, has effectively ground to a halt since the war started. Brent crude has surged to over $112 a barrel, its highest level in almost four years. Prices of US gasoline, fertilizers and many metals that are shipped through Hormuz have also jumped.

Some countries, however, are finding ways to get cargoes through the corridor. The Iranian Navy has guided an Indian LPG tanker through the strait following diplomatic engagement by New Delhi. Iran has said the chokepoint is open to all but enemy-linked ships.

Until now, the US and Israel have largely avoided targeting Iran’s power and water plants. Israel did strike fuel depots in Tehran two weeks ago, causing acid rain clouds and drawing veiled criticism from the US, which felt it was a strategic error that could turn Iranian civilians against the offensive.

Iran has around 100 operational natural gas power plants, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Among the largest are the Damavand plant near Tehran, the Ramin facility north of Ahvaz in the west, and the Kerman facility in Chatroud in the southeast.

The Middle East’s energy assets have increasingly come into focus as attacks widen. Israel struck the South Pars gas field last Wednesday, and Iran retaliated with its own volleys on the world’s largest LNG facility, in Qatar, alongside other Gulf energy assets.

Oil prices in London have jumped more than 50% since the war started, sparking concerns over global inflationThe price spikes — particularly gasoline — pose political risks for Trump at home, just eight months before midterm elections.

The US is pumping record amounts of oil and gas domestically, but the likes of Europe, China and Japan are more reliant on Middle East resources.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Saturday that the joint campaign would intensify significantly, a day after Tehran launched ballistic missiles at the joint US-UK military base in Diego Garcia — nearly 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers) away from Iran.

The attack demonstrated a capability that goes beyond what Iran was known to have possessed.

–With assistance from Stanley James, Alisa Odenheimer, Dana Khraiche, Omar Tamo, Jennifer A. Dlouhy, María Paula Mijares Torres and Dan Williams.

(Updates with quotes from Iranian parliament speaker, a Republican senator, Israeli minister starting in fourth paragraph)

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