Trump Eyes Seizure of Iran's Kharg Island as War Enters Fifth Week

Donald Trump has publicly floated the idea of seizing Kharg Island, the small Iranian island that handles 90% of the country's crude oil exports, as the US-Israeli war with Iran enters its fifth week and thousands more American troops pour into the region.

In an interview with the Financial Times published on Sunday, Trump said his "favourite thing" would be to "take the oil in Iran," dismissing domestic critics of the idea as "stupid people." "Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don't. We have a lot of options," he said. "It would also mean we had to be there for a while... I don't think they have any defence. We could take it very easily."

The island, a small rocky outcrop just 24 kilometres off Iran's coast, is the economic backbone of the Iranian state. Ninety percent of Iran's crude oil is funnelled through its terminal, transported via pipelines from the mainland to deep-water jetties where supertankers load up before heading out through the Strait of Hormuz, primarily to China. Seizing it would effectively cut off the IRGC's main revenue stream. Security analyst Mikey Kay said it would sever "Iran's economic jugular vein," while CBS national security analyst Aaron Maclean suggested that it could be "used as leverage" to force Iran to reopen the strait.

US Central Command struck more than 90 military targets on Kharg Island on 13th March, destroying naval mine storage facilities, missile bunkers and other military infrastructure. Trump said at the time that he had deliberately spared the oil infrastructure "for reasons of decency," adding: "Just one simple word, and the pipes will be gone too. But it'll take a long time to rebuild that." Iranian officials have said that oil exports from the island are continuing normally.

The military buildup suggests that planning is advancing. Around 3,500 additional US sailors and marines arrived in the Middle East aboard the USS Tripoli on Saturday, joining thousands of Marines who are already deployed in the region. Pentagon officials have reportedly been making detailed preparations for a potential ground force deployment into Iran, though neither the Pentagon nor the White House has confirmed specific plans.

Iran is taking the threat seriously. It has reinforced Kharg Island's defences in recent weeks, they have deployed additional troops, sent shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles, and laid anti-personnel and anti-armour mines in the surrounding waters, according to CNN sources citing US intelligence.

Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf was unambiguous in his response. "Our men are waiting for the arrival of the American soldiers on the ground to set them on fire and punish their regional allies once and for all," he said in a statement carried by Iran's official IRNA news agency. "Our firing continues. Our missiles are in place. Our determination and faith have increased."

Meanwhile, the broader conflict continues to escalate. Israel launched more than 80 munitions in a wave of overnight strikes on Tehran, targeting weapons production sites, a missile assembly complex and ballistic missile research facilities. A petrochemical plant northwest of the capital was also hit. Prime Minister Netanyahu announced he had ordered a further expansion of Israel's ground operation in southern Lebanon, saying forces had "eliminated thousands of Hezbollah terrorists." A UN peacekeeper was killed in southern Lebanon by a projectile. Iranian-backed Houthi rebels fired their first missile of the current war at Israel on Saturday, which was intercepted. An Iranian attack on a power and desalination plant in Kuwait also killed an Indian worker.

Iran's health ministry said 2,076 people had been killed in Iran since the war began on 28th February, including 216 children. Death tolls across the broader conflict include over 1,200 in Lebanon, 18 in Israel and 13 US service members.

Oil prices climbed above $116 a barrel on Monday as markets reacted to the escalating tensions and the ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz. In Japan, the yen continued to weaken, with Vice Finance Minister Atsushi Mimura warning that "speculative activity is also said to be increasing in the foreign exchange market."

Trump also claimed in the FT interview that Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who was killed on the first day of the war, was either dead or severely injured. "The son is either dead or in extremely bad shape. We've not heard from him at all. He's gone," Trump said. Tehran has denied this, insisting that its head of state is safe.

Diplomatic efforts are underway in parallel. Top diplomats from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey gathered in Islamabad this weekend to try to lay the groundwork for de-escalation. Trump presented a 15-point peace plan which critics described as "maximalist." Tehran rejected it and presented its own conditions, including the end of US-Israeli strikes, war reparations and security guarantees. Trump told the FT Iran had agreed to allow 20 oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz as "a sign of respect." When asked whether a ceasefire was close, he said: "We've got about 3,000 targets left — we've bombed 13,000 targets — and another couple of thousand targets to go. A deal could be made fairly quickly."