U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to renew attacks on the Iranian regime and warned that Washington could take control of the country’s main crude oil export terminal.
“The United States will be hitting Iran (whose Navy, Air Force, radar, anti aircraft, and all other forms of defense, together with most of its offensive capability, are gone!), very hard tonight,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform.
“At some point in the not too distant future, we will be taking Kharg Island, and other oil infrastructure points, and assume total control of their oil and gas markets, much like we have with Venezuela,” continued the president.
Referring to the January change of government in Caracas, Trump said it was “working out brilliantly for both Venezuela and the United States of America.”
Kharg Island is a small island (12.3 square miles), situated 16 miles off the coast of Iran in the Persian Gulf. The island’s oil terminal accounts for more than 90% of Iran’s crude exports.
Trump repeated his preference to take Kharg Island to Fox News‘ “Fox & Friends” on Thursday morning. While America would make a fortune, he said. “I don’t know that America has the stomach for it. ... I think they’d like to see us come home.”
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of Iran’s parliament, on March 12 threatened to “make the Persian Gulf run with the blood of invaders” if the U.S. military targets regime assets the island.
“Homeland or death! Any aggression against soil of Iranian islands will shatter all restraint,” tweeted Ghalibaf, adding, “The blood of American soldiers is Trump’s personal responsibility.”
The next day, the U.S. military carried out a major strike on Kharg Island, targeting military facilities while largely avoiding oil-export infrastructure. Tehran responded by launching missile and drone attacks against U.S. military facilities in the region.
Trump lashed out at reports from mainstream outlets, singling out the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. Iran has “great publicity,” he said. The country has been “decimated” but the Journal reported that “we’re not hitting them hard enough. We dropped $250 million worth of bombs on them last night. The whole thing is crazy. They’re really in submission.”
