US President Donald Trump has said in an interview with Financial Times that he wanted to "take the oil in Iran" and could seize the export hub of Kharg Island.
Kharg Island handles 90% of Iran's oil exports and seizing it would give the United States the ability to severely disrupt Iran's energy trade, placing enormous pressure on Tehran's economy.
The US president said in the interview that his “preference would be to take the oil”, comparing the potential move to Venezuela where the US intends to control the oil industry “indefinitely” following its capture of strongman leader Nicolás Maduro in January.
Trump said: “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 comments come on the back of reports that about 3,500 US troops arrived in the region on Friday, including roughly 2,200 Marines.
“Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don’t. We have a lot of options,” Trump told the FT. “It would also mean we had to be there [in Kharg Island] for a while.”
Asked about the state of Iranian defence on Kharg Island he said: “I don’t think they have any defence. We could take it very easily.”
“He’s the one who authorised the ships to me,” Trump said. “Remember I said they’re giving me a present? And everyone said: ‘What’s the present? Bullshit.’ When they heard about that they kept their mouth shut and the negotiations are going very well.”
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