Trump threatens to hit Iran 'very hard tonight,' seizes Kharg Island – National
US President Donald Trump threatened on Thursday to launch major strikes on Iran and seize control of its oil industry as an escalating offensive between the countries brings the Middle East closer to the resumption of all-out war.
Trump said in a social media post that the US would hit Iran “HARD NIGHT” and “totally control” Iran's oil and gas industries, including the key oil facility on Kharg Island, “in the not too distant future.”
The US leader's latest threats came as efforts to negotiate an end to the war appear to have stalled. Trump expressed his frustration with stalled talks, warning earlier in the week that Tehran would “pay a price” for taking so long to reach a deal.
Iran's months-long standoff over the Strait of Hormuz has disrupted global energy supplies, driven up fuel prices and made food and other staples more expensive beyond the region.
The US and Iran traded strikes for a second straight day on Thursday after reaching a ceasefire agreement more than a month ago. Although the strikes have raised tensions in the region, they have been minimal compared to the first weeks of the war and negotiations between the US and Iran are ongoing.
Trump's threats on Thursday, while shocking, represent his escalation of the war on Iran. In April, he warned Iran that “the whole civilization will die tonight, it will never come back” if it did not agree to his terms, before extending the ceasefire.
Trump is weighing trying to seize Iran's oil reserves
Kharg Island – located on the other side of the Persian Gulf from US 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 coast is too shallow for tankers to dock.
It was not clear how serious Trump was about his threat to take it.
“My preference has always been to take Kharg Island,” Trump said in an interview Thursday on Fox News. “I don't know if America has the stomach to tell the truth.”
American troops will be at risk on the island of Kharg because of its proximity – about 33 kilometers (21 miles) – to the Iranian mainland, where missiles, drones and weapons could be fired.
Trump stated in the interview that he no longer wants to send US troops to Iran. “We can go in there tomorrow. We can take the soldiers – I don't want to have boots on the ground. But if I want we can put a group of soldiers and take over the place.”
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Trump compared his threat to seize Iran's oil industry to how the US took control of Venezuela's oil sector after kidnapping former president Nicolás Maduro in January.
Iran says US attack has rendered ceasefire 'pointless'
Back-and-forth strikes have rocked the Middle East for the third time this week. The first involved an attack between Iran and Israel, followed by two rounds of fire between the US and Iran, the target countries of which were US-backed forces.
The US military's Central Command said the airstrikes that ended Thursday morning targeted “Iranian military surveillance capabilities, communications systems and air defense facilities.”
Explosions were heard around the capital of Iran, as well as the port city of Bandar Abbas and other areas south of the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's Revolutionary Guard later said the sites hit included a manufacturing facility, a military base and a local guard base outside Tehran.
Tehran said it retaliated in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan.
Kuwait closed its airspace for several hours but did not report any damage. Jordan said it intercepted 20 Iranian missiles fired at a US military base, although no one was injured.
Bahrain's Interior Ministry said an 11-year-old girl was injured and cars and homes were damaged by debris from Iranian strikes.
Iran's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday that the US attack “made it seem as if the ceasefire … was null and void,” without saying it was abandoning it.
Tensions continue over Iran's nuclear program, the Strait of Hormuz
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a social media post that the US would withdraw funds from frozen Iranian accounts to cover the cost of damages to US partners and any fines imposed by Iran on ships trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
Despite the tension over the issue, the two sides are still at loggerheads over Iran's nuclear program. Tehran insists its nuclear efforts are peaceful. The US and Israel fear that Tehran's highly enriched uranium could be used to build an atomic weapon. That was the main reason they gave for going to war on the 28th of February.
Iran has insisted that any ceasefire deal must end fighting in Lebanon between its ally Hezbollah and Israel. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seems determined to pursue his goal of destroying this terrorist group.
An Iranian student says hope is fading as the attacks escalate
A 25-year-old student in northern Iran says Iranians fear “chaos” between war with the US and Israel and recurring problems at home.
The student, who lives in the city of Babol, said many Iranians are struggling to buy food as they face job losses and triple-digit food inflation. He spoke and asked not to be named because he was afraid of security.
“Everything is going bad and there is no hope for the people,” added the student.
The student first spoke to the Associated Press before the war when he participated in widespread anti-government protests. Now he says his main concern is that Iran “maintains territorial integrity and deterrence” in the face of attacks by the US and Israel.
The US fires another merchant ship to enforce the blockade
The US military's Central Command said on Thursday it hit a Guinea-Bissau-flagged tanker trying to escape the US blockade of Iranian ports. It said the M/T Jalveer was transporting Iranian oil when it was disabled late Wednesday after its crew failed to obey US orders.
A ninth merchant ship the US Navy says has been disabled to enforce the blockade.
Three Indian sailors were killed when the US military attacked the M/T Settebello flagged off Palau on Tuesday, the Indian minister in charge of ports and shipping said on Thursday X.
US Central Command said the US military had issued warnings before firing on the ship, which it suspected was trying to evade the blockade.
The head of the International Maritime Organization, a United Nations organization, condemned the attack.
Madhani reported from Washington. Associate reporters Will Weissert, Collin Binkley, Michelle L. Price and Konstantin Toropin in Washington; Sheikh Saaliq in New Delhi; Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Victoria Eastwood and Amir-Hussein Radjy in Cairo; and Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed to this report.
