President Donald Trump threatened Thursday to seize Iranian oil infrastructure, including its main export terminal Kharg Island “in the not too distant future.”
Trump said in a Truth Social article that the U.S. military would attack Iran “VERY HARD” on Thursday night after completing a series of airstrikes on Wednesday. The president has threatened to take “total control” of Iran’s oil and gas markets, as the United States did in Venezuela earlier this year.
Kharg Island is the main oil export terminal, accounting for about 90% of its pre-war crude shipments. The US Navy has already blocked most Iranian exports by imposing a blockade against the country’s ports and ships.
The United States launched strikes against military targets on Kharg Island earlier in the war, but refrained from deploying ground troops to seize Iran’s oil and gas infrastructure.
Shortly after making the threats, Trump told Fox News he wasn’t sure “America has the guts” to take Kharg. The United States is continuing its negotiations with Iran, the president said.
“I think they would like to see us come home, but we did that with Venezuela,” Trump told Fox in a live phone call. “Venezuela went well for everyone.”
The president said he would prefer not to bomb Iranian power plants when asked by Fox. Trump made such threats earlier in the war.
The Trump administration has essentially taken control of VenezuelaThe country’s oil exports have fallen since the United States overthrew former President Nicolás Maduro in a military raid in January. Revenue from Venezuela’s oil sales is deposited into a Treasury Department account. Venezuela’s oil shipments are routed to the U.S. Gulf Coast, where the crude is refined.
Read more about CNBC’s politics coverageTrump has stepped up his military pressure on Iran this week, as he grows increasingly frustrated that Tehran has not quickly agreed to a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and abandon its nuclear program. The latest wave of escalation this week began when Trump held Iran responsible for the shooting down of a US Apache helicopter in Hormuz.
“We dropped $250 million worth of bombs on them last night,” Trump told Fox. “You know, this is all crazy, but they’re really submissive. They just don’t know it yet.”
Iran has so far refused to meet Trump’s demands. Tehran has claimed control of the Strait of Hormuz, the main sea route through which Middle Eastern exporters shipped 20% of the world’s oil reserves before the war.