Trump said in a social media post that the U.S. would hit Iran “VERY HARD TONIGHT” and take “total control” of Iran’s oil and gas industries, including the vital Kharg Island oil terminal, in the “not too distant future.”
Kharg Island — located on the other side of the Persian Gulf from U.S. bases in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia — is the beating heart of Iran's oil industry, through which 90% of its exports pass. It is important because Iran’s coastline is mostly too shallow for tanker ships to dock.
It was unclear how serious Trump was about his threat to seize it.
“My preference has always been to take Kharg Island,” Trump said in an interview Thursday on Fox News. “I don’t know that America has the stomach for it to be honest.”
American troops would be vulnerable on Kharg Island because of its proximity — about 33 kilometers (21 miles) — to the Iranian mainland, from which missiles, drones and artillery could be fired.
Trump indicated in the interview that he remains averse to sending U.S. forces into Iran.
“I don’t want to have boots on the ground," Trump said. "But if I wanted to we could put a small group of soldiers and take over the place.”
Trump compared his threat to take over Iran's oil industry to how the U.S. assumed control of Venezuela’s oil sector after capturing then-president Nicolas Maduro in January.
The American leader's latest threats came as efforts to negotiate an end to the war appeared stuck. Trump has voiced his frustration with the stalled negotiations, warning earlier in the week that Tehran would “pay the price” for taking too long to reach a deal.
Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, warned in a social media post Thursday that “wrong strategies and impulsive decisions” would wreak havoc on energy markets and “create an endless quagmire that you will be stuck in for years.”
The U.S. and Iran traded strikes for a second straight day Thursday after reaching a tenuous ceasefire more than a month ago. While the strikes have increased tensions in the region, they have been more limited compared to the early weeks of the war and negotiations between the U.S. and Iran are ongoing.
Trump’s threats on Thursday, while stark, represented his latest verbal escalation in the Iran war. In April, he warned Iran that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again” if it didn’t agree to his terms, before extending a ceasefire.
