Trump’s statements come at a time when the US has been sending troops to the region, while indirect negotiations are taking place with Iran for a ceasefire
US President Donald Trump admits that he wants to take control of Iran’s oil and claims that it would be “easy” to capture Kharg Island, a small point in the Persian Gulf that.
“To be honest, my favorite thing is to take Iran’s oil, but some stupid people in the US wonder, ‘Why are they doing that?’ But they are stupid people”, said the North American president, in an interview with .
The intentions now assumed by the North American president appear to follow the same strategy he promoted in Venezuela, after Trump announced that he wants to control the oil industry for an “indefinite period of time” following the capture of Nicolás Maduro in early January.
Trump admits capturing Kharg Island to keep Iranian oil, assuming that it would be “very easy” to take that island located in the north of the Persian Gulf, off the coast of Iran.
“Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe not. We have a lot of options,” Trump told the Financial Times. “That would also mean we would have to stay there [na Ilha de Kharg] for a while.”
Trump’s statements come at a time when the US has been sending troops to the region, with the Pentagon ordering the deployment of 10,000 soldiers to seize and maintain territory. According to the Financial Times, around 3,500 troops arrived in the region on Friday, including approximately 2,200 marines.
In addition to these, another 2,200 marines are on their way to the region, while thousands of soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division have also been ordered to move to the region.
From Trump’s perspective, the US would not need many resources to take Kharg Island, devaluing Iran’s defense. “I don’t believe that [os iranianos] have any defense. We could take it very easily”, he assumes.
These threats come after the US president announced, on Thursday, that he would extend the suspension of attacks on Iran’s energy infrastructure until April 6, while indirect negotiations between Washington DC and Tehran, mediated by Pakistan, take place.
Asked about the prospects for a ceasefire in the future, Trump refused to provide specific details on this point and only highlighted that the US currently has “around 3,000 targets remaining” in Iran. “We have already bombed 13,000 targets”, he highlighted, admitting that, in this context, “an agreement [com o Irão] can be closed quickly.”
