As tensions in the Middle East escalate, US President Donald Trump has raised the possibility of American forces seizing Iran's Kharg Island, the country’s main oil terminal in the Persian Gulf.
In an interview with The Financial Times on Sunday, Trump expressed his preference for taking Iran's oil. "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 said.
The president suggested that US forces could easily seize control of Kharg Island, claiming that Iran has little defense there. “Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don’t. We have a lot of options. It would also mean we’d have to be there for a while,” he added.
Kharg Island, which handles 90 per cent of Iran’s oil exports, has long been vital to the country's economy. The US has already carried out airstrikes on the island, targeting Iran's military infrastructure.
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Meanwhile, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Joint Base Andrews, Trump expressed optimism about ongoing negotiations with Iran. He noted that Tehran had allowed 20 oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz as a "sign of respect."
"So we’ve had very good negotiations with Iran, getting a lot of the things they should have given us a long time ago. We'll see how it works out, but they’re very good, moving along very nicely," he said.
Trump also claimed that there has been a regime change in Iran, pointing to the deaths of top Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in joint US-Israel airstrikes.
"We’ve had regime change, if you look already, because the one regime was decimated, destroyed. They’re all dead. The next regime is mostly dead," Trump said.
"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. So I think we’ve had regime change," he added.
