Middle East crisis live: Trump says he wants to ‘take the oil’ in Iran and could seize Kharg Island ‘easily’

Trump Iran oil: President threatens to seize Kharg Island and ‘take the oil’

Muhammad Asghar | GlobalBeat

President Donald Trump said the United States could “easily” capture Iran’s Kharg Island and take control of its oil exports, raising the specter of direct military action against Tehran.

The remarks came during a Thursday press conference at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, where the president told reporters that seizing the Persian Gulf terminal would be “very easy militarily” and would pay for itself “in about a week.”

Kharg Island handles roughly 90 percent of Iran’s crude exports, making it the economic jugular of the sanctions-hit Islamic Republic. Any assault on the facility would mark the first outright U.S. annexation of foreign territory since the Spanish-American War and could ignite a regional conflict that Pentagon planners have war-gamed for decades.

Trump offered no details on how the operation would unfold, but said Iranian crude “would be a good way to keep the price down” for American consumers. The White House did not respond to questions about whether the president had ordered the Pentagon to draft contingency plans.

Iran’s foreign ministry called the threat “a confession of piracy” and vowed a “crushing response” if U.S. forces moved against the island. “The era of gunboat diplomacy is over,” spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei told state television.

Brent crude futures jumped $3.42 to $78.19 a barrel within minutes of Trump’s comments, while West Texas Intermediate surged past $74. Traders cited the risk of closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which Kharg’s cargoes reach global markets.

The island sits 25 miles off Iran’s southwest coast and is ringed by anti-ship missiles, Iranian Revolutionary Guard fast boats and air-defense batteries. A 2019 U.S. drone strike came within minutes of hitting Kharg facilities after Iran shot down an American spy aircraft, according to officials familiar with the episode.

Republican hawks praised the president’s stance. “Iran’s oil revenue funds terror from Gaza to Yemen,” Senator Tom Cotton told reporters. “Choking it off is long overdue.”

Democrats warned of repeating Iraq-style adventurism. “We’ve seen this movie before—promises of quick gains that turn into endless occupations,” Senator Chris Murphy said on the Senate floor.

European diplomats reacted with alarm. “We are not going to participate in any looting of natural resources,” a senior French foreign ministry official told GlobalBeat, speaking on condition of anonymity because the matter involves allied discussions.

Israeli officials, who have lobbied for tighter oil sanctions on Tehran, offered guarded support. “Any pressure on Iran’s economy weakens its proxies,” an Israeli defense source said, but added that Jerusalem prefers covert action to open seizure.

The Pentagon has not received formal orders to prepare for an island assault, three defense officials said. One official noted that Kharg’s capture would require at least a Marine expeditionary brigade plus air cover, tying down assets already stretched by deployments in the Red Sea and the Western Pacific.

Shipping insurers immediately raised war-risk premiums for vessels calling at Kharg. The island normally loads 1.5 million barrels per day onto tankers bound mostly for China, which has invested billions in Iranian oil infrastructure under a 25-year strategic accord.

Beijing urged restraint. “Gulf security concerns every energy consumer,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters. China imported 1.1 million bpd of Iranian crude last month, according to customs data.

Venezuela, itself under U.S. oil sanctions, ridiculed the threat. “Persecution of our peoples follows the same colonial logic,” Foreign Minister Yván Gil posted on social media.

Oil analysts say removing Kharg cargoes would tighten an already nervous market. “You’d lose 1 percent of global supply overnight,” said Amrita Sen of Energy Aspects. “Strategic reserves cover 90 days, but psychology drives spot prices.”

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Trump floated the idea once before on the 2016 campaign trail, saying “to the victor belong the spoils” when asked about Iraq’s oilfields. His first-term administration later sanctioned Iranian exports to zero for a brief period in 2019, but never attempted physical seizure.

Treasury officials studied the legal mechanics of redirecting Iranian cargoes in 2020, according to a former official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The review concluded that selling captured crude would violate U.S. domestic law unless Congress declared war.

Iran has weathered prior attacks on Kharg. Iraqi warplanes bombed the terminal repeatedly during the 1980-88 war, reducing exports to a trickle but never knocking the island out of operation. Tehran rebuilt facilities each time under sanctions.

Today the island hosts 22 giant storage tanks, two loading berths capable of handling very-large-crude-carriers, and a pipeline network fed by fields 600 miles inland. Satellite imagery last month showed new camouflage netting over missile batteries, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

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Pentagon planners must now weigh whether Trump’s musings become a directive. “We game all scenarios,” CENTCOM commander Gen. Michael Kurilla told the Senate last week, refusing to comment on specific contingency plans.

Congress has 30 days to block any large-scale deployment under the War Powers Resolution, but lawmakers have rarely mustered the votes to halt presidential action. House Speaker Mike Johnson said he would “evaluate any formal request” if it arrives.

Iran’s next move may hinge on China’s reaction. Beijing’s state-run refineries are Tehran’s last big-dollar customers, and Chinese banks settle the bulk of Iranian oil payments through shell companies in Dubai and Hong Kong.

Trump said he would discuss the idea with “friends in the Gulf,” an apparent reference to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, whose own export terminals sit within Iranian missile range. Riyadh has not commented publicly.

Analysts see a negotiating ploy. “He’s bargaining in public,” said Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group. “Maximum pressure redux, but this time with outright confiscation as the deterrent.”

The White House schedule shows no upcoming summits with Tehran, and Switzerland’s protecting-power channel remains dormant since Trump shuttered its use in 2025.

Oil traders are hedging for volatility. Options contracts betting on $100-a-barrel Brent before year-end doubled in volume after Thursday’s remarks, exchange data shows.

Whether the threat morphs into orders depends on global price trends and Trump’s domestic political calculus. Gasoline averages $3.67 a gallon nationwide, up 42 cents since January, according to AAA.

Background

Kharg Island became Iran’s primary oil outlet after Britain built the first terminal there in 1951. The facilities expanded six-fold during the 1970s oil boom, turning a sleepy fishing outpost into a maze of pipelines and jetties visible from space. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps assumed security duties after the 1979 revolution, and the island has been a recurring flashpoint in every Gulf crisis since.

Trump’s suggestion revives a colonial-era doctrine last invoked by the 1953 CIA-backed coup that toppled Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh after he nationalized the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. Washington already holds economic leverage through sanctions that bar Iranian crude from dollar clearing, but physical seizure would cross a Rubicon that U.S. administrations have deliberately avoided since the tanker wars of the 1980s.

What’s Next

The Treasury Department must decide by May 15 whether to renew sanctions waivers that let Iraq continue importing Iranian electricity, a separate chokepoint that could be tightened if Trump opts for economic strangulation over military seizure. Meanwhile, U.S. naval forces in Bahrain have begun routine escort of American-flagged tankers through Hormuz, a practice last seen during the 2019 tanker crisis.

Watch for China’s customs data due next week: any drop in Iranian arrivals would signal Beijing is distancing itself ahead of potential conflict. Domestically, pump prices above $4 a gallon would test voter tolerance for foreign adventurism in an election year where inflation remains the top concern, according to polling by Pew Research.