IRAN MORPHED INTO MAMDANI’S NEW YORK SO QUICKLY, I HARDLY EVEN NOTICED: Iran issues grim new order to citizens after US strikes ‘hit power plants’ as conflict spirals.
Iran has told its citizens to turn off their air conditioning during peak hours as the country’s power grid came under strain amid US strikes.
Tehran’s energy ministry said that the power restrictions were necessary ‘to help ensure a stable electricity supply in the southern provinces, which are currently facing extreme heat and attacks on electricity supply facilities.’
Temperatures in the capital were expected to hit triple digits Friday, with highs of 102F on Saturday and Sunday.
Donald Trump ordered the US military to hit Iranian bridges throughout coastal cities along the Strait of Hormuz. A report from Iranian state media claims an American missile struck in the vicinity of Qeshm, while other reports said locations around the island were hit by projectiles. The US also fired on a ship accused of trying to break the naval blockade.
Trump has threatened to broaden the campaign to Iran‘s power plants and bridges unless Tehran returns to talks, warning in a Fox News interview that attacks would intensify next week.
Related: “‘We are in an essential and existential war with America,’ [Iran’s] Qalibaf said. Who pulled a switcheroo on them? After decades of ‘Death to America’ ain’t that a surprise.”
"We are in an essential and existential war with America," [Iran's] Qalibaf said.
My comment: His surprise is understandable. The Europeans believed the Israelis would retaliate "proportionately" for Oct 7. Bomb a few symbolic targets in Gaza but stop short of invasion,…
— wretchardthecat (@wretchardthecat) July 16, 2026
Exit question from Lee Smith at Tablet: Is Trump Ready to Win Yet? “The reason America doesn’t win wars is not that it wants to turn tribal confederations into liberal democracies or teach surrealism to veiled schoolgirls or sow corruption abroad and reap the profits. Those are all effects of the fundamental problem, which is deciding, for whatever reasons, not to win. For Trump, the choices are stark: either preside over another American war without resolve and go down in history as the American president who forfeited America’s postwar birthright and lost the strait, or decide to win.”