New Delhi: Iranians formed human chains at thermal power plants and on bridges across the country on Tuesday (April 7), and a prominent musician began a solo sit-in at the facility supplying a large share of Tehran’s electricity, as a deadline set by US President Donald Trump for Iran to strike a deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz approached.Trump had set 8 pm ET on April 7 (5:30 am IST and 3:30 am in Tehran on April 8) as the time by which Iran had to make a deal, threatening to target its power plants and bridges, which he escalated on Tuesday by warning that “a whole civilisation will die tonight”.Earlier on Monday, Trump warned that if the deadline expired, Iran’s bridges and power plants would be ‘burning, exploding and never to be used again’. “The entire country could be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night,” he said.Iran’s deputy sports minister, Alireza Rahimi, urged citizens to form human chains around power plants at 2 pm Iran time on Tuesday. “Attacking public infrastructure is a war crime. We will stand hand in hand to say civilian lives are not targets,” he wrote.Among the most visible responses was that of Ali Ghamsari, a musician and composer known for playing the tar, a long-necked string instrument central to Persian classical music. Since April 6, Ghamsari has been stationed outside the Damavand power plant near Tehran, described in his posts as the largest power facility in the region and a major supplier of the capital’s electricity.In messages shared on his Telegram channel, he said he was acting “as an independent artist, away from all political currents” and would remain at the site for a period, playing music in solitude. He urged supporters not to gather at the plant, describing it as a potential target.Ghamsari, who has previously faced work and travel restrictions, said his protest stance did not conflict with his opposition to attacks on infrastructure. He has also publicly mourned victims of past unrest, referring to the 2022 protests that followed the death of Mahsa Amini.On the second day of his sit-in, he shared a message titled “My Homeland”, saying his aim was to draw attention to the importance of protecting vital infrastructure so that “no home is left in darkness”. In a video from the site, he expressed hope that his music could contribute to peace and help keep electricity flowing.Human chain demonstrations were reported at multiple locations.Chains were also formed at the Shahid Muftah power plant in Hamadan and outside a power plant in Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city and a key population centre in the northeast, according to Tasnim News Agency.In Khuzestan province in southwest Iran, demonstrators formed a human chain on the White Bridge in Ahvaz, where crowds carried a large Iranian flag across the span and gathered in large numbers, according to footage published by Mehr News Agency on its Telegram channel.In the nearby city of Dezful, students formed a line along a historic bridge, with many participants holding Iranian flags.At the Tabriz thermal power plant in northwest Iran, protesters stood outside the facility entrance holding printed placards in English reading “Infrastructure is not a battlefield” and “The destruction of infrastructure is a crime”.Similar gatherings were reported at a power plant in Kermanshah in western Iran, where participants held a large banner in Persian across the front of the crowd and waved national flags.Other images showed demonstrators forming human chains near operating power facilities, with smokestacks visible in the background, as men, women and children stood together holding flags and placards.After Trump posted his tweet about a civilisation being decimated, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson responded that the “the power of a ‘civilised’ nation’s culture, logic and faith in its righteous cause will undoubtedly prevail over the logic of brute force”.“A nation that has every faith in the righteousness of its path shall harness all its capacities and capabilities to safeguard its rights and legitimate interests,” Esmaeil Baghaei wrote on X.Meanwhile, Pakistan’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister Ishaq Dar, who had been working the phones, said in a statement in the upper house of parliament that Israel’s attack on Monday had “severely damaged the peace process”.“Just as both parties were close to sitting at the negotiating table, Israel attacked Iran, which led Iran to target oil installations in Saudi Arabia’s Jubail city. This situation has severely damaged the peace process,” he said.