U.S. President Donald Trump says he wants to “take the oil in Iran” and that the country may potentially seize the export port of Kharg Island, even as indirect negotiations with Tehran are underway, according to an interview with the Financial Times. Trump compares the possibility to how the U.S. acted in Venezuela earlier this year.
It was in an interview with the Financial Times on Sunday that Trump spoke about how he feels about the ongoing war in Iran, especially when it comes to what he calls his “favorite thing” that Iran has.
– To be honest, my favorite thing is to take the oil in Iran, but some stupid people back home in the U.S. say, “why are you doing that?” But they are stupid people.
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Kharg Island is the island — and also the strategic port — through which the majority of Iran’s oil exports pass. Trump compares the situation to Venezuela, where according to the president, the U.S. plans to control the oil industry “for an indefinite period” after flying in and capturing the country’s leader Nicolás Maduro in January.
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Trump stresses that a military operation would entail risks.
– Maybe we’ll take Kharg Island, maybe not. We have many options, he says, and continues:
– It would also mean that we have to stay there (on Kharg Island, editor’s note) for a while.
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When asked about Iran’s defense on Kharg Island, Trump replies that he does not believe they have any defense and that the U.S. could take the island very easily.
Meanwhile, negotiations with Iran continue via Pakistani intermediaries. Trump has set a deadline of April 6 for Iran to accept a deal ending the war, otherwise the U.S. is threatening attacks on the country’s energy sector.
– We have about 3,000 targets left – we’ve bombed 13,000 targets – and a few thousand more to go, says Trump.
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Furthermore, Donald Trump claims that Mojtaba Khamenei, son of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed at the beginning of the war and the country’s new top leader, may be dead or seriously injured. Despite these claims, Tehran has assured that Ali Khamenei is in good health, after his absence from the public eye previously fueled speculation about his condition.
The situation regarding Iran’s leadership thus remains unclear, and the speculation has attracted international attention.
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Watch the full press briefing: