ABOARD AIRFORCEONE: US President Donald Trump has raised the idea of American forces seizing Iran's Kharg Island, its main oil terminal in the Persian Gulf.
The comment by Trump came in an interview published early Monday by The Financial Times.
“Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don't. We have a lot of options,” Trump told the newspaper. “It would also mean we had to be there (on Kharg Island) for a while.”
Asked about Iranian defences there, he said: “I don't think they have any defense. We could take it very easily.”
The US already launched airstrikes once it said targeted military positions on the island.
Iran has threatened to launch its own ground invasion of Gulf Arab countries and new attacks if US troops land on its territory.
Trump said that Iran's parliament speaker authorised the passage of oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf.
The comment by Trump in the interview is the latest signal by the Americans of Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf's importance within Iran's theocracy.
“They gave us 10” Pakistani-flagged tankers, he said. “Now they're giving 20 and the 20 have already started and they're going right up the middle of the Strait.”
“He's the one who authorised the ships to me,” Trump told the newspaper about Qalibaf. “Remember I said they're giving me a present? And everyone said: What's the present?' ... When they heard about that they kept their mouth shut and the negotiations are going very well.”
Qalibaf has maintained a combative personality through his X account in the war, mocking the Americans and issuing threats. But the former Revolutionary Guard commander has seen his profile rise as senior members of its theocracy have been killed.