Trump says US will seize Iran’s Kharg Island and other key ‘oil infrastructure points’
The President's threats come as tit-for-tat strikes in the Gulf undermine a shaky ceasefire.
Donald Trump has threatened that the US will seize Iran's oil infrastructure hub Kharg Island.
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The US President warned that they will be hitting Iran "very hard tonight" following days of escalation after the downing of a US helicopter patrolling the Strait of Hormuz, which Mr Trump blamed on Tehran.
Writing on Truth Social on Thursday, Mr Trump said: "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, which is working out brilliantly for both Venezuela and the United States of America."
He echoed his intention to take Kharg Island, which houses the terminal through which nearly all of Iran's oil exports pass, in an interview with Fox News.
However, Mr Trump said he was not sure Americans have the appetite for a major escalation in the war.
Read more: Trump says US will ‘respond’ after accusing Iran of downing Apache helicopter over Hormuz
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"We are talking to them and all, but you know, look, my preference has always been - take Kharg Island ... my preference would be that. I don't know that America has the stomach for it," he said in the interview.
Trump said the US will attack Iran again with intensified strikes on Thursday night but he would rather not hit bridges and power plants.
"There will be more bombing tonight. It will be bigger - bigger, more powerful," he said.
Iran exports most of its oil via Kharg Island with volumes usually amounting to two million barrels per day, or around 2% of global supply, and flowing mainly to China.
A move by the US to capture the island would not have an immediate impact on oil shipments, however, since those flows have been suspended in recent weeks following the US blockade of Iranian oil exports.
Iranian sources and Western officials said indirect US-Iranian talks on a preliminary peace deal had intensified. But a worsening of hostilities this week has undermined prospects for a swift end to more than three months of war.
Tehran did not immediately respond to Trump's latest remarks but Iran's foreign ministry said earlier on Thursday that the ceasefire agreed in early April had been effectively rendered meaningless by the latest US attacks.
The war has killed thousands of people, mainly in Iran and Lebanon, and pushed up global oil prices since the US and Israel launched heavy airstrikes on Iran on February 28.