‘My favourite thing is to take the oil in Iran’: Trump indicates possibility of seizing Kharg Island

President Donald Trump said he wants to take control of oil in Iran and suggested the possibility of seizing Kharg Island, a key Iranian oil export hub, amid the ongoing US military buildup in the Middle East.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Trump said he preferred to take control of Iranian oil, comparing the strategy to the US plan in Venezuela, where it aims to control the oil industry indefinitely following the capture of Nicolás Maduro.

Related video: Trump addresses Strait of Hormuz: ‘We could close that up so fast’ (Daily Mail)

More below the fold.

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  • United States President Donald Trump says in an interview he wants to “take the oil in Iran” as Tehran accusesWashington plotting a ground attack despite publicly pushing for a negotiated deal.
  • Kuwait says an Indian worker has been killed in an Iranian attack on a power and desalination plant, as Gulf states report intercepting drones and missiles.

Saudi Prince MbS reveals that President Obama gave Iran $150 billion, and the IRGC didn’t even build a single street with that money. Instead, they made missiles and drones. And they used the funds Obama provided them to finance and arm terrorists like Hamas, Ansar Allah, and Hezbollah.

With these funds, Iran offers safe harbor to the leaders of Al Qaeda, including one of Osama Bin Laden’s sons who was indoctrinated into jihadism. Obama is by far the worst man to ever set foot in the Oval Office. The neoliberals like Hillary Clinton, Victoria Nuland, Samantha Power, etc. who ran his administration did so deliberately in order to keep the region destabilized and to use Iran as a buffer to prevent the Gulf states and Israel from amassing too much prosperity.

The Arab Spring in turn was their way of creating a refugee crisis that would plunge Europe into financial and social turmoil, the effects of which are plain to see today as they struggle with irreversible demographic change. Chaos is a ladder, and peace is bad for the Democrats. It was the their way of keeping the Middle East down so they could retain the unipolar world order under the neoliberal agenda. The neoliberals did the same with Ukraine, and they tried to do it with Kazakhstan, Belarus, Georgia, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland. And they did so through USAID. Evil, evil stuff.

Let’s bring you up to speed:

  • Trump says he thinks a deal to end the war is close, but also that his troops could seize the Iranian oil export hub on Kharg Island.
  • Israel carries out more attacks on Iran, with explosions reported in Tehran and Rey, as the Iranian military and Hezbollah continue firing missiles and rockets at Israeli territory.
  • Australia halves fuel taxes as oil prices rise again, with Brent crude topping $116 a barrel.
  • Rockets strike the US’s Victory Base near the Baghdad airport, setting an Iraqi special forces plane ablaze.
  • Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE report missile and drone attacks.

Continued:

“To be honest with you, my favourite thing is to take the oil in Iran but some stupid people back in the US say: ‘why are you doing that?’ But they’re stupid people,” said Trump to the financial news site.

The comments come as the US-Israeli conflict with Iran escalated, causing oil prices to surge by more than 50 per cent in a month. Brent crude exceeded $116 a barrel on Monday morning in Asia, nearing its highest level since the conflict began.

Seizing Kharg Island, through which most of Iran’s oil is exported, would be a significant military operation. Trump indicated that the US has a range of options and acknowledged that holding the island would require a prolonged presence.

The US has deployed around 3,500 troops to the region recently, including 2,200 Marines, with additional forces en route. The Pentagon has ordered a total of 10,000 troops trained for land seizure and occupation to the Middle East.

Despite the threats, Trump noted that indirect talks between the US and Iran, facilitated by Pakistani intermediaries, are progressing. He set an April 6 deadline for Iran to accept a deal to end the conflict or face strikes on its energy sector.

Trump also claimed that Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, authorised the passage of additional Pakistan-flagged oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, which he described as a “present” to the White House. He further asserted that Iran’s leadership has changed due to recent strikes, though Tehran has denied these claims and maintained that its supreme leader is safe.