President Donald Trump threatened to strike Iran again Thursday night and said the United States could move to take Kharg Island, the oil-export hub that sits at the center of Iran’s energy economy.
The threat came after a second straight day of U.S.-Iran exchanges pushed the April ceasefire close to collapse. The Guardian reported that Trump said the U.S. would hit Iran “VERY HARD, TONIGHT” and later raised the idea of taking Kharg Island and other oil infrastructure. The outlet noted that Kharg handles about 90% of Iran’s oil exports.
That makes the latest warning different from another round of strike rhetoric. Kharg is not just a military target. It is the island that helps Iran turn crude production into export revenue, and any U.S. move against it would immediately connect the battlefield to global oil supply, shipping insurance, and Gulf security.
Kharg Island is now the headline risk
Trump later softened the island threat in a Fox News interview, according to The Guardian, saying he was not sure whether Americans had the appetite for seizing it. But even a conditional threat matters because it names a specific piece of Iranian energy infrastructure at a moment when the conflict is already disrupting the Strait of Hormuz.
The Strait of Hormuz is the narrow passage between Iran and Oman that carries a major share of global oil flows. Iran has claimed tighter control over the waterway, while the U.S. military has disputed Iranian claims that the strait is fully closed. Either way, traffic through the area has already become a military and economic pressure point.
The Associated Press reported that Iran retaliated against U.S. air and cruise missile strikes with attacks targeting Kuwait and Bahrain. Bahrain hosts the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, making any attack there more than symbolic.
The ceasefire is barely holding
AP reported that U.S. Central Command said the latest strikes were completed before sunrise Thursday in Iran and targeted military surveillance, communications, and air defense sites. Explosions were reported around Tehran, Bandar Abbas, and southern areas near the strait.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said the U.S. attacks had effectively made the ceasefire meaningless, though it did not formally say Iran was abandoning it. That distinction is important. It leaves a small diplomatic lane open while both sides continue using force to shape negotiations.
Al Jazeera reported that Iran said it launched retaliatory strikes against U.S. forces in Kuwait, Bahrain, and Jordan, and claimed the Strait of Hormuz had been closed after U.S. strikes. Those claims are contested, but they show how Tehran is trying to frame the confrontation as both military retaliation and maritime leverage.
Why the oil threat matters
A U.S. attempt to seize Kharg Island would be a sharp escalation from airstrikes and blockade enforcement. It could require ground forces, expose U.S. troops to Iranian missile and drone attacks, and put oil export facilities at risk even if Washington says it wants to control them rather than destroy them.
The economic stakes are obvious. If Kharg operations are disrupted, Iran loses its main export outlet. If fighting around the island expands, oil markets could price in a wider supply shock. If the Strait of Hormuz remains restricted, the problem moves beyond Iran and starts hitting Gulf exporters, shipping firms, and consumers far from the battlefield.
The new angle is that Washington is no longer only talking about punishing Iranian military sites or stopping tankers accused of moving Iranian oil. Trump is now openly linking U.S. military pressure to possible control of Iran’s oil infrastructure.
That is why Thursday’s warning deserves attention. The war has already moved from missiles to tankers to airspace closures. Kharg Island would add a direct fight over Iran’s export lifeline, and that would be a much harder crisis to contain.
Sources: The Guardian, Associated Press, Al Jazeera.