New Delhi, March 23 -- As US President Donald Trump threatened to "hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST" unless Iran reopens the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, attention has shifted to a critical question underpinning the escalating conflict: how resilient is Iran's power grid to sustained military attack?

The warning, issued on Truth Social, marks a sharp escalation in a war now in its fourth week, which began on February 28 with coordinated US and Israeli strikes on Iranian targets. Tehran has responded by warning the strait would be closed "completely" if its energy infrastructure is attacked, while Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said "delirious threats on the battlefield" would on...