Trump wants to ‘take the oil’ of Iran and seize Kharg Island as war tensions escalate
US President Donald Trump said he wants to ‘take the oil in Iran’ and could seize the export hub of Kharg Island, in an interview with Financial Times published on Sunday.
US President Donald Trump has indicated a willingness to seize Iran’s critical oil infrastructure, including the export hub of Kharg Island, as the Middle East conflict intensifies and energy markets reel from surging prices. In an interview with the Financial Times on Sunday, Trump described control over Iranian oil as a preferred strategic objective in the Iran war.
“To be honest with you, my favorite thing is to take the oil in Iran but some stupid people back in the US say: ‘why are you doing that?’ But they’re stupid people,” Trump said.
He compared the idea to the operation in Venezuela in January, when Washington captured President Nicolas Maduro and sought control of its oil industry.
Brent crude traded higher than $115 a barrel, near its highest level since the war began.
Unlike Venezuela, seizing Iran’s oil would mean invading and holding Kharg Island, which also houses an Iranian naval base.
“Our men are waiting for American soldiers to enter on the ground,” Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Sunday, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
Kharg Island Emerges as Strategic Flashpoint in US-Iran Conflict
At the centre of the tensions lies Kharg Island, through which most of Iran’s oil exports pass. Any attempt to capture the facility would mark a significant escalation, potentially dragging the US deeper into a prolonged and costly Iran war.
Trump suggested such an operation was possible: “I don’t think they have any defence. We could take it very easily.”
“Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don’t. We have a lot of options,” Trump said, adding that a sustained presence might be required. “It would also mean we had to be there (in Kharg Island) for a while.”
The remarks come as the US expands its military footprint in the region, deploying thousands of troops, including Marines and units from the 82nd Airborne Division, amid fears of further escalation.
Oil Prices Surge as Conflict Disrupts Global Energy Flows
The conflict has already reverberated across global markets, with oil prices climbing sharply. Brent crude has surged above $116 per barrel.
Recent attacks have widened the theatre of conflict. A strike on a Saudi air base wounded American personnel and damaged military equipment, while missile launches by Houthi rebels have raised the prospect of a broader regional confrontation. Analysts warn that continued instability could exacerbate an already fragile energy outlook.
Trump's Diplomacy Continues Despite Hardline Rhetoric
Despite signalling readiness for forceful action, Trump emphasised that negotiations with Iran are ongoing. He described both direct and indirect talks, facilitated in part by Pakistani “emissaries”, as progressing positively.
“I think we’ll make a deal with them pretty soon,” Trump said, before adding: “It’s possible that we won’t.”
In the interview with the FT, the president also pointed to what he characterised as concessions from Tehran, including an increase in the number of Pakistan-flagged oil tankers permitted through the Strait of Hormuz.
“They gave us 10,” he said. “Now they’re giving 20, and the 20 have already started, and they’re going right up the middle of the Strait.”
He added, “Gave US 20 big boats of oil through Strait of Hormuz starting tomorrow morning.”
According to Trump, the arrangement was authorised by Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, a claim that could not be independently verified.
Iran War, Uncertainty and the Risk of Prolonged Engagement
Trump has set a 6 April deadline for Iran to accept a deal to end hostilities or face further US strikes targeting its energy sector. At the same time, he suggested that the conflict has already reshaped Iran’s leadership landscape.
“The people we’re dealing with are a totally different group of people . . . (They) are very professional,” Trump said.
He claimed uncertainty surrounding the condition of Mojtaba Khamenei, saying, “The son is either dead or in extremely bad shape. We’ve not heard from him at all. He’s gone.”
Tehran, however, has maintained that its leadership remains intact, dismissing such assertions.
In the interview, Trump claimed that “regime change” in Iran has effectively already taken place, arguing that the leadership now engaging with the United States represents a “totally different, professional group of people” following the deaths of key figures in the conflict.
A High-Stakes Gamble with Global Implications
Control of Iran's oil assets could reshape energy geopolitics, but will also lead to longer military entanglement and wider instability across the region.
For now, the trajectory remains uncertain—caught between escalating military posturing and fragile diplomatic overtures, with global markets and political leaders closely watching each move.
- Trump's comments reflect a willingness to take aggressive action regarding Iran's oil resources.
- Ongoing negotiations indicate a complex diplomatic effort alongside military rhetoric.
- The situation remains fluid, with potential implications for US-Iran relations and global oil markets.
About the Author
Sayantani Biswas is an assistant editor at Livemint with seven years of experience covering geopolitics, foreign policy, international relations and global power dynamics. She reports on Indian and international politics, including elections worldwide, and specialises in historically grounded analysis of contemporary conflicts and state decisions. She joined Mint in 2021, after covering politics at publications including The Telegraph. <br> She holds an MPhil in Comparative Literature from Jadavpur University (2019), with a specialisation in postcolonial Latin American literature. Her research examined economic nationalism through Eduardo Galeano’s Open Veins of Latin America. She also writes on political language, cultural memory and the long shadows of conflict. <br> Biswas grew up in Durgapur, an industrial town in West Bengal shaped by migration, which drew families from across India to the Durgapur Steel Plant. As the only child in a joint family, she spent years listening—almost obsessively—to her grandparents’ testimonies of struggle, fear and loss as they fled Bangladesh during the Partition of 1947. This formative exposure to lived historical memory later converged with her training in Comparative Literature, equipping her to analyse socio-economic structures and their reverberations. <br> Outside the newsroom, she gravitates towards cultural history and critical theory, returning often to texts such as Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed. As a journalist, she is committed to accuracy, intellectual rigour and fairness, and believes political reporting demands not only clarity and speed, but historical depth, contextual precision, and a disciplined resistance to spectacle.
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