US President Donald Trump said the US would “hit Iran very hard tonight,” adding that the military would “occupy Kharg Island and other Iranian oil infrastructure sites in the not-too-distant future.”
The threat, made in a Truth Social post on Thursday, came after two days of attacks between the United States and Iran, which threaten to derail ongoing negotiations for a permanent ceasefire.
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The statement signals the United States intends to return to full-scale war, but President Trump has made repeated bellicose threats and diplomatic overtures in recent weeks.
For example, hours before a cessation of fighting was agreed to begin on April 8, he vowed that “the entire civilization will perish.”
President Trump said Thursday: “The United States will attack Iran tonight (navy, air force, radar, anti-aircraft, and all other defenses are gone, along with most of the strike capability!). Very tough.”
“At some point in the not-too-distant future, we will occupy Kargu Island and other oil infrastructure sites and take complete control of the oil and gas market,” Trump wrote, before referring to U.S. military action against Venezuela.
This included the abduction of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. Maduro’s successor, Delcy Rodriguez, has overseen the opening of the state-run oil industry to foreign investors under intense pressure from the United States.
Known as the “forbidden island” due to strict military controls, Khalg Island processes 90% of Iran’s crude oil exports.
In a subsequent interview with Fox News, President Trump said it had always been his “preference” to occupy Kharg Island.
“To be honest, I don’t know if the United States is willing to do that,” he added, noting there was still reluctance to deploy boots on the ground in Iran.
President Trump’s statement came shortly after Iran’s Foreign Ministry said recent U.S. attacks have rendered the ongoing cessation of fighting “virtually meaningless.”
Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for justice and international affairs, described the recent US strikes against Iran as a “widespread and complete nullification of the ceasefire.”
According to Iranian media, recent US strikes have targeted the port city of Bandar Abbas on Qeshm Island and the southern towns of Sirik, Minab and Karaj west of Tehran.
Meanwhile, Iran attacked U.S. military bases in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan. President Trump also accused Iran of shooting down a U.S. helicopter in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday.
In response to recent attacks by the United States, Iran announced a complete closure of the Strait, a main waterway that has emerged as a key base for Tehran in the conflict.
Reporting from Washington, D.C., Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett said President Trump appears to be using military pressure and inflammatory language to push Iran closer to a deal.
U.S. officials have hinted for weeks that a deal is near, but have offered few concrete details about the impasse over the future of Iran’s nuclear program, future control of the Strait of Hormuz and the release of frozen Iranian funds.
Analysts say the Trump administration is also constrained by political imperatives to reach a deal with terms more favorable than the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which saw Tehran reduce its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
President Trump unilaterally withdrew from the deal in 2018 and has attacked Iran twice since taking office last year amid ongoing talks over its nuclear program.
“What’s clear is that the president of the United States continues to make these truth social posts to mix public threats with what he believes is still possible. It’s diplomacy at gunpoint,” Halkett said.
Abbas Aslani, a senior fellow at the Center for Middle East Strategic Studies, said in an interview with Al Jazeera that the Trump administration “wants to escalate in order to create leverage at the negotiating table to pressure Tehran to make concessions that it hasn’t made in the past.”
Meanwhile, the Iranian government is concerned about “restoring deterrence against further attacks on the country.”
“And for Iran, this is also important because previous responses to US attacks have not been enough to guarantee that it will not attack Iran again,” Asrani said. “That may be why they are escalating to try to de-escalate (the situation).”
On Thursday, Centcom also announced that the military had disabled three oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman as Iran’s port blockade continued.
India on Thursday called on the United States to halt its attacks, saying one American attack on a ship left three Indian crew members dead.
