President Trump told the Financial Times on Sunday that he wants to “take” Iran’s oil in an operation that could involve the US seizing and occupying Kharg Island, a major Iranian oil export hub deep inside the Persian Gulf.
The US president said that his “preference would be to take the oil” and compared the possibility to Venezuela, where the US has controlled the country’s oil exports following the attack to abduct Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
“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,” Trump told the paper.
He also acknowledged that seizing and controlling Kharg Island would require a long occupation. “Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don’t. We have a lot of options. It would also mean we had to be there [in Kharg Island] for a while,” Trump said.
The comments come as the Pentagon is deploying Marines and US Army Airborne troops to the region to prepare for potential ground operations, which would likely result in significant US casualties. Trump insisted it would be easy for the US to take control of Kharg Island, but US forces would face significant Iranian missile and drone fire. “I don’t think they have any defense. We could take it very easily,” he said.
The president also claimed that Iran had given the US a “present” by allowing some ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, but Iran is benefiting from the arrangement, as it’s reportedly charging transit fees and is earning much more on oil sales than it was before the war.
Trump also repeated his claim that “regime change” has already happened in Iran since Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other senior officials have been killed, but the assassinations have not slowed Iran’s military response, and there’s no sign the Islamic government will collapse. Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, has taken over as the supreme leader, though Trump is claiming that he’s either “dead or in extremely bad shape” since he hasn’t made a public appearance.
