President Donald Trump announced Thursday on his Truth Social network that the United States would strike Iran "very hard tonight," declaring that Iran's military capabilities had been largely destroyed.
A satellite image shows an oil terminal at Kharg Island, Iran, February 25, 2026. 2026 Planet Labs PBC/Handout via Reuters
President Donald Trump announced Thursday on his Truth Social network that the United States would strike Iran "very hard tonight," declaring that Iran's military capabilities had been largely destroyed.
"The United States will be hitting Iran, whose Navy, Air Force, Radar, Anti-Aircraft, and all other forms of defense, together with most of its offensive capability, are GONE, very hard tonight," Trump wrote.
The president went further, signalling American intentions to seize Iran's oil infrastructure. "At some point in the not too distant future, we will be taking Kharg Island, and other oil infrastructure points, and assume total control of their Oil and Gas Markets," he declared, drawing a parallel with US policy toward Venezuela, which he described as "working out brilliantly."
Kharg Island handles the vast majority of Iran's crude oil exports and would represent an extraordinary strategic prize, and an equally extraordinary escalation, if the US were to move to take control of it.
No immediate response from Tehran was available at time of publication.
President Donald Trump said on Thursday he wants to take over Kharg Island, Iran's oil infrastructure hub. Analysts say the U.S. military could seize the island quickly, but the move could leave U.S. troops in great peril and prolong rather than shorten the war.
Iran is waging a calculated campaign to preserve Lebanon as its last bastion of influence on the Mediterranean, tying the country's fate to a grand bargain with Washington as it seeks to end Hezbollah's war with Israel on its own terms, not Beirut's.
Efforts to reach an interim deal to end hostilities between Iran and the U.S. have intensified, three Iranian sources and a European official told Reuters on Thursday, despite strikes launched by both sides, as the warring parties discuss how to release frozen Iranian funds.
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