Trump says he wants to ‘take’ Iran’s Kharg Island oil hub
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US President Donald Trump said his preference "has always been" to take Iran's Kharg Island oil hub.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- US President Trump wants to seize Iran's oil hub Kharg Island, but doubts American public's appetite for further war escalation.
- The US and Iran traded intensified air attacks, worsening hostilities after three months, with Iran holding the Strait of Hormuz.
- While indirect US-Iranian talks for a peace deal intensify, the war has killed thousands and raised global oil prices.
AI generated
WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump said on June 11 he wants to take over Iran’s oil infrastructure hub Kharg Island but he was not sure Americans have the stomach for a major escalation in the war.
In an interview on Fox News, he said his preference “has always been – take Kharg Island” and that he did not know whether “America has the stomach for it”.
After more than three months of war, Iran still has effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, a critical supply route for oil and gas shipping, and has retained its stockpile of enriched uranium.
The US and Iran traded air attacks on June 11 for a second day in a worsening of hostilities that has undermined prospects for a swift end to the war.
Trump said the US will attack Iran again with intensified strikes 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 on the Fox And Friends programme.
Despite plans for more strikes, Trump said the US is still talking with Iran to reach a deal.
The White House did not immediately respond to a question on whether the ceasefire agreed in April remains in place.
Iranian sources and Western officials said indirect US-Iranian talks on a preliminary peace deal had intensified.
Trump expressed frustration with media coverage of the Iran war as well as Iran’s recalcitrance.
“The whole thing is crazy,” Trump said. “They’re really in submission. They just don’t know it yet.”
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 air strikes on Iran on Feb 28. REUTERS
