Trump Threatens to Seize Iran's Kharg Island to Control 90% of Crude Oil Exports

U.S. President Donald Trump raised the possibility of American forces seizing Iran's Kharg Island oil terminal in an interview published Monday by the Financial Times, saying his preferred outcome in the ongoing war with Iran was to take control of the country's oil. "To be honest, what I would most like is to take the Iranian oil," Trump told the newspaper, dismissing domestic critics of the idea as "stupid people." The president said U.S. forces could capture the island "very easily," adding that Iranian defenses there were weak and that American troops might have to remain on the island "for a while." Trump also said Iran had agreed to allow 20 oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz starting Monday as a "sign of respect" toward the United States.

„Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don't. We have a lot of options. It would also mean we had to be there for a while.” — Donald Trump via Financial Times

Pentagon deploys 10,000 ground troops as deadline looms The Pentagon has ordered the deployment of approximately 10,000 soldiers trained for ground operations, according to reporting cited by multiple outlets, as part of contingency planning that could include a seizure of Kharg Island. The total U.S. military presence in the Middle East has grown to roughly 50,000 personnel, according to the sources. The U.S. Central Command confirmed on Saturday the deployment of the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli, carrying 3,500 additional personnel along with transport and combat aircraft and amphibious assault units. The Washington Post reported over the weekend that the Pentagon had drawn up advanced plans for a weeks-long ground offensive, including special forces and conventional ground troops operating on Kharg Island and at coastal locations near the Strait of Hormuz, though a full-scale invasion was not part of the planning, according to unnamed U.S. officials cited by the newspaper. Trump set a deadline of April 7, 2026, at 2:00 a.m. German time for Iran to accept an agreement, threatening renewed strikes on Iran's energy sector if no deal is reached. Despite the military posturing, Trump told the Financial Times that indirect negotiations between Washington and Tehran, conducted through Pakistani mediators, were progressing well, and that an agreement "could be reached fairly quickly."

„We still have about 3,000 targets — we have bombed 13,000 targets — and there are still a few thousand targets ahead of us.” — Donald Trump via Financial Times

share handled through Kharg Island terminal

Kharg Island already struck once, oil prices surge four percent Kharg Island was not entirely spared before Trump's interview: U.S. forces struck 90 military targets on the island on March 13, 2026, according to Central Command, hitting naval mine storage facilities, missile storage bunkers, and several other military sites. The island has not been targeted as an oil infrastructure site in those strikes. Former Pentagon adviser Michael Rubin, cited by the Dutch outlet AD, described a seizure of the island as the ultimate means of financially strangling the Iranian government, arguing that without oil revenues Tehran could no longer pay its civil servants or military personnel. Oil prices rose sharply on Monday as markets opened, with North Sea Brent crude climbing as much as four percent overnight to nearly 117 dollars per barrel. The price surge reflected market concern over the potential disruption to global oil flows if the conflict escalates further. Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf said the United States was speaking publicly about negotiations while "in secret" planning a ground attack, and that Iran was "waiting" for U.S. soldiers deployed in the region.

The U.S.-Israel military campaign against Iran, designated Operation Epic Fury, began on February 28, 2026, with air strikes that killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on the first day of the war, according to multiple sources. His son Mojtaba Khamenei was appointed Supreme Leader on March 9, 2026. Since the start of the conflict, Iran has responded with missile and drone attacks on Israel, several Gulf states, and U.S. facilities in the region. Trump drew a parallel in the Financial Times interview to U.S. actions in Venezuela, where American forces captured President Nicolás Maduro in early January 2026 in a move aimed at controlling that country's oil industry.

Regional spillover widens as Gulf states report overnight strikes The conflict continued to spread across the region on Sunday night and into Monday, with multiple Gulf states reporting fresh attacks. Kuwait reported damage to a power plant and a desalination facility, with an Indian worker killed in the strikes. Saudi Arabia's Defense Ministry said air defenses intercepted five ballistic missiles. Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates also came under fire from drones and missiles, according to the Arab broadcaster Al Jazeera. The Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen launched two drones toward Israel, both of which were intercepted by the Israeli military. The widening regional impact underscored the risk that the conflict, now in its fifth week, could draw in additional actors and further disrupt global energy markets. Trump declined to specify whether a ceasefire agreement in the coming days could reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway through which a significant share of global oil and gas flows.

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