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.
Iran's chief nuclear negotiator and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf called Thursday on all Iranians to attend the funeral of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, killed in Israeli-American strikes in late February, using the occasion to issue a call for revenge.
Iran and the United States concluded a round of indirect talks on Wednesday with no sign they had made headway toward a lasting peace, focusing instead on issues that they had supposedly resolved two weeks ago.
President Donald Trump said on Wednesday the United States was getting along very well with Iran and that recent meetings in Qatar went well.
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