Trump threatens to seize Iran’s oil export terminal Kharg Island and take ‘total control’ of its energy industry

President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to seize Iran’s oil infrastructure including its main export terminal Kharg Island “in the not too distant future.”

Trump said in a Truth Social post that the U.S. military will attack Iran “VERY HARD” tonight after completing a round of airstrikes on Wednesday. The president threatened to take “total control” of Iran’s oil and gas markets as the U.S. did in Venezuela.

Kharg Island is Iran’s main oil export terminal, accounting for about 90% of its crude shipments before the war. The U.S. Navy has already choked off most of Iran’s exports through a blockade against the country’s ports and vessels.

Shortly after threatening to seize the island, Trump said he is not sure “America has the stomach” to take Kharg Island.

“I think they’d like to see us come home, but we did it with Venezuela,” Trump told Fox News in a live phone call. “Venezuela’s worked out great for everybody.”

The Trump administration has basically taken control of Venezuela’s oil exports since the U.S. ousted former President Nicolas Maduro in a military raid in January. The revenues from Venezuela’s oil sales are deposited in a Treasury Department account.

Trump has escalated military pressure on Iran this week as he has grown frustrated with Tehran for not quickly agreeing to a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and abandon its nuclear program. The latest round of escalation began when Trump held Iran responsible for shooting down a U.S. Apache helicopter in Hormuz.

“We dropped $250 million worth of bombs on them last night,” Trump told Fox. “You know, the whole thing is crazy, but they’re really in submission. They just don’t know it yet.”

The U.S. launched strikes against military targets on Kharg Island earlier in the war, but has mostly avoided targeting or seizing Iran’s oil and gas infrastructure so far.