Iranian minister calls for human chains around power plants
Iran's Deputy Minister of Sports and Youth Alireza Rahimi invited people to form human chains around the country's power plants in a video message published on Monday, according to the government's Telegram channel.
Rahimi called on young people, artists, athletes, students and professors to join the initiative -- which he described as a "symbolic move" -- on Tuesday at 2 p.m. local time (6:30 a.m. ET), regardless of their political views, to protect infrastructure he referred to as "national assets that belong to the future of Iran and its young people."
The invitation came as President Donald Trump's Tuesday evening deadline for Iran to fully re-open the Strait of Hormuz approached. Trump has threatened to destroy Iranian civilian infrastructure -- including power plants and bridges -- if Tehran does not comply.
Israeli attacks on Iranian infrastructure, meanwhile, have intensified across the country.
-ABC News' Somayeh Malekian and Joe Simonetti









