Iranian authorities are urging young people, students, artists, athletes, and volunteer groups to form “human chains” around power plants across the country just hours before President Donald Trump’s deadline for a deal expires, effectively gathering civilians at infrastructure sites the United States has explicitly threatened to strik

The campaign, promoted through Iran’s Ministry of Sports and Youth, is set for 2 p.m. Tuesday local time — roughly 13 hours before Trump’s 8 p.m. Eastern deadline — and has been branded “Human Chain of Iran’s Youth for a Bright Future.”

Deputy Youth Affairs Minister Alireza Rahimi claimed the initiative came from the bottom up, saying “a number of university youth, young artists, and youth organisations” had proposed forming a “human ring or human chain” around the country’s power plants.

Rahimi said the campaign is intended to symbolize “the youth’s commitment to protecting the country’s infrastructure and building a bright future,” while also protesting what he called attacks on public infrastructure as a “war crime.”

But whatever label Tehran applies to it, the practical effect is the same: the regime is publicly mobilizing civilians to gather at the very infrastructure it knows has been singled out in Trump’s threats.

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