Iran has called on its youth to form human chains and act as buffers around critical infrastructure as tensions escalate ahead of a United States ultimatum over the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz 

Alireza Rahimi, identified as the secretary of the National Council of Youth and Adolescents, has urged Iranian youths to surround key power plants and bridges to shield government infrastructure as President Donald Trump’s 8 p.m. Eastern deadline to reopen the strait draws closer.

“Tomorrow, human chains of young people will be formed around power plants across the country,” Wall Street Journal quoted Mr Rahimi as saying on state television in a report on Tuesday. 

Mr Trump, who had earlier threatened that U.S. troops would attack bridges and power plants in Iran, intensified his warnings on Tuesday to wipe out an entire civilisation should Tehran fail to accede to his demand.

“A whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” the U.S. leader threatened in a social media post on Tuesday, unless “maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen.”

White House said that U.S. carried out at least 50 strikes on Kharg Island, a major oil export hub, in Iran early Tuesday morning ahead of the 8 p.m. ultimatum.

Iranian authorities appear to be exploring ways to shield strategic assets by encouraging civillian presence at potential targets, a move seen as an effort to complicate, if not entirely, halt the planned U.S. bombardment.

Iranian embassy in Pakistan claimed on X that young Iranians were already converging on bridges and power plants though The Journal said it could not immediately verify the information.