Trump ‘wants to take the oil in Iran’ and considers seizing Kharg Island

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Donald Trump has said he wants ⁠to “take ​the ⁠oil ⁠in ​Iran” and ⁠is considering the option of seizing the export ‌hub of ‌Kharg Island.

The US President, in an interview with the Financial Times, said his “preference” would be to take the oil under plans similar to its aims in Venezuela, where it hopes to control the industry.

“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,” he said.

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Speaking about whether or not the US could seize Kharg Island, he said: “Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don’t. We have a lot of options,” adding they could “take it very easily”.

Kharg Island is Iran’s main oil terminal in the Persian Gulf and handles roughly 90 per cent of Iran’s 1.7 million barrels of crude exports per day, making it one of the country’s most important targets.

The US has already launched air strikes on the island once, saying they targeted military positions.

Iran has threatened to launch its own ground invasion of Gulf Arab countries and new attacks if US troops land on its territory.

In separate comments, Trump said Iran was “agreeing” with the US on the 15-point ceasefire plan the US has proposed.

“I would only say that we’re doing extremely well in that negotiation but you never know with Iran because we negotiate with them and then we always have to blow them up,” he told reporters on Sunday night board Air Force One as he flew to Washington.

When asked how Iran was responding to the 15-point plan, he responded: “They gave us most of the points. Why wouldn’t they?”

He also said Tehran had agreed to allow 20 ships carrying oil through the Strait of Hormuz starting Monday morning and continuing over the next few days “out of a sign of respect”.

Trump repeated his claim that the war in Iran has resulted in “regime change because they have been killed”.

“The one regime was decimated, destroyed, they’re all dead,” he said.

“The next regime is mostly dead, and the third regime we’re dealing with different people than anybody’s dealt with before, it’s a whole different group of people, so I would consider that regime change, and frankly they’ve been very reasonable.”

He also said Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, “may be alive but he’s obviously, very seriously in trouble. He’s seriously wounded”.

Speaking to the FT, Trump said: “We’ve not heard from him at all. He’s gone.”