President Donald Trump put Iran on alert Thursday morning by threatening to seize Kharg Island.
This latest threat comes after Iran and the U.S. exchanged fresh strikes this week, per The Hill.
The president took to Truth Social followed by an interview with Fox News’s “Fox and Friends.”
“The United States will be hitting Iran (Whose Navy, Air Force, Radar, Anti Aircraft, and all other forms of Defense, together with most of its offensive capability, are GONE!), VERY HARD TONIGHT,” the president wrote on
“At some point in the not too distant future, we will be taking Kharg Island, and other oil infrastructure points, and assume total control of their Oil and Gas Markets, much like we have with Venezuela, which is working out brilliantly for both Venezuela and the United States of America,” he continued.
Khard island holds around 90% of Iran’s crude oil exports.
On “Fox and Friends,” Trump reiterated his threat to seize the island.
“Look, my preference has always been: Take Kharg Island,” he said, adding, “I don’t know that America has the stomach for that.”
Watch:
Earlier this week, the U.S. and Iran traded fire after the Iranian military shot down a U.S. Army helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz.
The two American service members on board were rescued and in stable condition.
The U.S. military conducted “self-defense strikes” on Iranian military surveillance capabilities, communication systems and air defense sites, U.S. Central Command (Centcom) said Wednesday evening.
“The strikes are in response to Iran’s unwarranted and continued aggression,” Centcom said in a statement shared on social media. “U.S. forces remain vigilant, lethal and ready.”
In an update Thursday morning, the military command said U.S. forces disabled an oil tanker on Wednesday evening that was attempting to transport Iranian oil in the Gulf of Oman. This is a violation of the U.S. naval blockade in the waterway.
Centcom said that M/T Jalveer was the third commercial ship that the U.S. military disabled this week and the 13th since the blockade was enacted on April 13.
