Trump in a sharp threat to Iran: “In the not too distant future – we will take over the island of Kharg”

After the American attacks on Iran during the last night, President Donald Trump wrote today (Thursday) on Truth Social that the United States will strike the Islamic Republic once again tonight “with great force”.

The president also sent in a post that published an unusual threat: “At some point in the not-too-distant future, we will take over the island of Kharg and other oil infrastructure centers, and take full control of its oil and gas markets, similar to what we did in Venezuela – a move that is succeeding wonderfully for both Venezuela and the United States.”

The spokesman for the Iranian National Security Committee responded to the threats: “The Iranian people are a people who do not surrender. There is no doubt that in this campaign the one who should surrender is the United States. Trump also has only two options: surrender or surrender.” The head of the committee added that Trump “will receive an even stronger and more painful response.”

Shortly after the tweet, Trump went on a phone interview with Fox News. He repeated the threat and clarified that the possibility of taking over the island of Kharg is on the table for him. “We are talking to them, but my preference has always been to take Kharg Island,” the president said.

However, he added that he is not sure that the American public has an “appetite” for such a move, and mentioned the American experience in Iraq. “I don’t know if the US can stomach it. People want to see American soldiers come home.”

The president claimed that Iran’s situation is much more difficult than it is shown in the American media, and he repeated that Tehran “really wants to sign”. According to him, Iran only has about 20% of its ballistic missile stockpile left, its air defense systems have been severely damaged and its military capabilities have been eroded.

Trump added that the United States “can destroy them in a minute”, but according to him it avoids damaging civilian infrastructure such as bridges and energy plants so as not to harm the population. “There will be more bombs tonight – bigger and more powerful,” he warned.

Later in the interview, Trump also referred to the possibility of overthrowing the regime from within, and explained that the Iranian people live under heavy oppression that makes it difficult to organize a broad protest. “When there are snipers on the roofs shooting at the demonstrators, it is difficult to organize a demonstration,” the president said. He also mentioned the plan to rely on local elements in the region, including the Kurds, but claimed that Washington was disappointed in them: “Although I did not support the decision to arm them (the Kurds), we tried to give them weapons, but we were disappointed in them, I think they are arrogant.”

As mentioned, around 00:30, an American official announced officially: “The wave of attacks in Iran has begun.” Dozens of targets of the Iranian army and the Revolutionary Guards were attacked by the US Air Force, with air defense systems, radars and command and control units on UAVs – being the main focus. In addition, it was reported that the bomb hit a petrochemical plant in Beslaviya, but the report was denied by the authorities in Iran.

President Trump revealed on the Fox network that the US military attacked with at least 49 Tomahawk missiles targets throughout Iran with an emphasis on the south of the country, and the closest it came to attacking the capital city of Tehran was an attack about 60 kilometers away from it. Trump threatened during the attack on the Iranians and told the Fox network: “We will blow Iran’s face if they don’t agree to a deal tomorrow.” President Trump also added that Israel was not involved at all in the current wave of attacks.

The Iranians threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, and attacked throughout the Gulf after the American attack. The Khatam al-Anbiya headquarters of the Iranian armed forces announced during the attack that “due to the insecurity in the area, the Strait of Hormuz is closed to the movement of all types of vessels, including oil tankers and commercial ships.” In the hostile message they emphasized that “any vessel that tries to pass will be attacked”.

Despite the aggressive threat, the Americans claim for now that vessel traffic in the Strait of Hormuz remains open to commercial ships. In addition to the threat, alarms were sounded across the Persian Gulf, apparently following an Iranian response to the attacks.

The Revolutionary Guards claimed after the response that they hit 18 “important” US military targets at the Ali al-Salam and Ahmed al-Jaber bases in Kuwait and the Sheikh Issa Air Force base in Bahrain.

Kharg Island serves as an “economic lifeline” for the Islamic Republic, as it handles about 90% of the country’s crude oil exports – which means any attack on it carries the risk of major escalation. Before the war, almost every day millions of barrels of crude oil flowed from Iran’s main oil fields.

A CIA document from 1984 revealed that the facilities on the island are “the most vital in the Iranian oil system, and their continued operation is essential to Iran’s economic well-being.” The island has been loading tankers “nonstop since the war broke out,” according to TankerTrackers.com, which tracks crude oil shipments using satellite photos and data.

The storage capacity in Kharg is estimated at about 30 million barrels, and as of March, about 18 million barrels of crude oil were stored there, Reuters reported.