US President Donald Trump has said he wants to seize Iran's oil and possibly seize the island of Kharq, while saying Washington is doing well in talks with Tehran to reach a peace deal.
He said this in an interview with the Financial Times.
The White House chief of staff said he “would prefer to seize the oil,” comparing the potential move to the situation in Venezuela, where the United States intends to “indefinitely” control the oil industry after seizing Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in January.
“Honestly, I like the idea of seizing the oil in Iran the most, but some stupid people in the United States say, 'Why do that?' But they are stupid people,” Trump said.
As the newspaper noted, such a move would involve seizing the island of Kharq, through which most of Iran's oil is exported, which the US president does not deny.
“Maybe we'll take Kharq Island, maybe we won't. We have a lot of options… It would also mean we would have to stay there (on Kharq Island – ed.) for a while… I don't think they (Iranian authorities – ed.) have any defense. We could take it very easily,” he said.
However, despite the threats, Trump claims that indirect talks between the US and Iran through Pakistani mediators are progressing well.