U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz says Iranian energy infrastructure is a legitimate target in war

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz on Sunday upheld President Trump’s threat to strike Iranian energy infrastructure if Tehran keeps the strategic Strait of Hormuz closed.

Mr. Waltz argued that attacking Iran’s power plants and energy infrastructure would be necessary since both are used to bolster Tehran’s internal security apparatus and are directly controlled by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

“The president is not messing around,” Mr. Waltz said on Fox News. “He stands on his red lines, and he’s not going to allow this genocidal regime to hold the world’s energy supplies or economies hostage.”

His comments come after Mr. Trump demanded on Saturday that Iran’s leaders reopen the Strait of Hormuz, through which at least 20% of the world’s oil passes each year, within 48 hours or risk U.S. strikes on power stations.

Mr. Waltz said the president has not ruled out strikes on any of Iran’s power plants, including its nuclear power facilities.

He also rejected arguments that attacks on civilian energy infrastructure could constitute war crimes.

“When you have a regime that has its grip on so much critical infrastructure to further not only the oppression of its own people but to attack its neighbors and, in contravention of U.N. sanctions, to march toward a nuclear weapon, then that makes those legitimate targets,” Mr. Waltz said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.

However, he added that the Pentagon will ensure that U.S. targets will be “geared toward the military infrastructure of Iran.”

The Strait of Hormuz has been effectively closed since the beginning of the war, which has put significant strain on global energy markets. Iran has insisted that no ships affiliated with its enemies will be allowed to use the waterway until hostilities end.