He told the Financial Times in an interview that he wants to “get his oil” and could seize the export hub of Harg Island as they send thousands of troops to .
“The US military could very easily take control of Harg Island, where oil infrastructures of strategic importance for Iran are located, Donald Trump assured.
The US president’s remarks come as the US-Israeli war against Iran has plunged the Middle East into crisis and sent the price of oil up more than 50% in a month. The price of Brent crude topped $116 a barrel on Monday morning in Asia, near its highest level since the conflict began.
Trump said: “To be honest with you, my favorite thing is to take the oil from Iran, but some stupid people in the US are saying, ‘why are you doing that?’ But they are stupid people.”
“I don’t think they have any defense”
“Maybe we get Harg Island maybe not. We have a lot of options,” Trump told the FT. “It would also mean we would have to stay there (on the island) for a while.”
Asked about the state of Iranian defenses on Kharg Island, he replied: “I don’t think they have any defenses. We could take it very easily.”
“Talks are progressing well”
However, despite his threats to seize Iranian oil production, Trump emphasized that indirect talks between the US and Iran through Pakistani “envoys” were progressing well. The US president has set an April 6 deadline for Iran to accept a deal that ends the war or face US strikes on its energy sector.
“Tehran agrees to the plan, … we will ask for a little more”
He also said that Iran has “mostly” accepted the 15-point list that the US conveyed through Pakistan to end the war.
Asked by reporters aboard Air Force One about Iran’s response, Trump replied: “They gave us most of the points. Why shouldn’t they?’
He added that Tehran agrees to the plan, while the US will ask for “a few more” beyond the initial 15 points: “We asked for 15 things, and for the most part, they have agreed. We will ask for two or three more things,” he said.
“Agreement to pass through the Straits of Hormuz”
The US president added that Iran has given oil to the US, which will be shipped tomorrow, as a sign of seriousness in its commitment to the deal.
He assured that the US negotiated with Iran and secured the immediate safe passage of 20 oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, the de facto closure of which since the outbreak of war in the Middle East on February 28 has sent black gold prices skyrocketing.
“They have given us, out of respect I believe, 20 large oil tankers, large oil tankers that will go through the Strait of Hormuz, and that starts tomorrow morning, for the next few days,” the US president told the press.
“Regime change has come in Iran”
US President Donald Trump has also said that he believes there has been “regime change” in Iran with the incessant US and Israeli airstrikes on the Islamic Republic since the end of February, as the country’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei and many top officials were killed already in the first hours of the war, and many more afterwards.
“We had a regime change, we’re already seeing it, because the first regime was decimated, destroyed, they’re all dead,” the Republican told the press. “The following regime,” which took over after the death of Ali Khamenei, “is largely dead,” he continued. This resulted in a “third regime” in Iran, always according to him.
“We’re dealing with people completely different from anyone we’ve dealt with before. It’s a whole different group of people,” so “I see this as regime change,” he insisted.
