The president said the strikes would start within hours. He warned the U.S. will take control of Iran’s oil and gas industries ‘in the not too distant future.’
The United States is going to be striking Iran “very hard tonight,” President Donald Trump said on June 11.
U.S. forces will be hitting Iran later Thursday, Trump wrote on Truth Social at 8:22 a.m. ET.
“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, much like we have with Venezuela, which is working out brilliantly for both Venezuela and the United States of America,” he also said.
Trump said separately on Fox News that he would like to seize Kharg Island, a key transit point for Iran’s oil exports.
“My preference would be that. I don’t know that America has the stomach for it,” he said.
Trump also said “there will be more bombing tonight,” that “it’ll be bigger, bigger, more powerful,” and that he would prefer not to strike bridges or power plants at this time.
Trump had earlier said Iran was responsible for downing a U.S. Army helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz, prompting fresh strikes on Tuesday and Wednesday, including the launch of missiles against Iranian ground control stations and surveillance radar sites near the Strait of Hormuz.
“The strikes are in response to Iran’s unwarranted and continued aggression,” U.S. Central Command said in a statement.
Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on June 11 that “the United States’ illegal and criminal attacks in recent hours are not only a blatant violation of the Charter of the United Nations, international law, and the principles of respect for the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of states, but have also effectively rendered meaningless the ceasefire.”
The war started in February. Trump and the White House said the United States attacked Iran to protect America from “imminent threats.”
