DONALD Trump has revealed he could seize Iran’s oil and “easily” snatch its most vital export hub in a bold strike.
The US president said his “favourite thing” would be able to take control of the regime’s oil lifeline, even as peace talks tick on behind the scenes.
Trump told the Financial Times: “To be honest with you, my favourite 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.”
At the centre of the plan is Kharg Island – the nerve centre of Iran’s oil exports, where most of the regime’s crude oil flows out to the world.
Trump made clear it is firmly in his sights.
He said: “Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don’t. We have a lot of options.
“It would also mean we had to be there [in Kharg Island] for a while.
“I don’t think they have any defence. We could take it very easily.”
The move would strike directly at Iran’s cash machine and cripple its ability to fund terror proxies across the region.
Trump also insists Iran is on the back foot and desperate to cut a deal as indirect negotiations are ongoing via Pakistani emissaries.
He said: “We’ve got about 3,000 targets left – we’ve bombed 13,000 targets – and another couple of thousand targets to go.
“A deal could be made fairly quickly.”
He has set a April 6 deadline for Tehran to agree or face devastating strikes on its energy sector.
Trump added separately: “We’re doing extremely well in that negotiation. But you never know with Iran, because we negotiate with them and then we always have to blow them up.”
Confident that a breakthrough is close, he said: “I think we’ll make a deal with them, but it’s possible that we won’t… I do see a deal in Iran. It could be soon.”
The President also claimed Iran’s leadership has already been shattered after heavy losses.
He said: “The people we’re dealing with are a totally different group of people . . . [They] are very professional.”
And in a dramatic twist, he added: “The son is either dead or in extremely bad shape… We’ve not heard from him at all. He’s gone.”
Tehran denies the claims, but insiders say the regime is under intense pressure after sustained US-Israeli strikes.
It comes as America floods the Middle East with firepower after Tehran’s threat to “rain fire” on them.
Parliamentary speaker, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf said Iran’s forces were “waiting for the arrival of American troops on the ground to rain fire on them . . . and punish their regional allies permanently.”
He added: “Our firing continues. Our missiles are in place. Our determination and faith have increased.”
Now, around 10,000 US troops are being deployed, including elite Marines and paratroopers from the 83nd Airborne – forces trained to seize and hold territory.
Warships, including the USS Tripoli carrying 3,500 personnel, are already in position.
Meanwhile, markets keep feeling the heat.
Global oil prices have rocketed more than 50 per cent in a month, with Brent crude surging past $116 a barrel – as fears grow over supply chaos.
At the centre of the crisis is the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow passage carrying around a fifth of the world’s oil.
Iran has partially choked the route, but Trump says the tide is turning.
In a striking claim, Trump said Tehran is now allowing more ships through as a “present” to the US.
He revealed Iran had agreed to allow 20 ships carrying oil through the Strait of Hormuz starting Monday morning and continuing over the next few days out of a sign of respect.
He said: “They gave us 10. Now they’re giving 20 and the 20 have already started and they’re going right up the middle of the Strait.”
Trump added: “He’s the one who authorised the ships to me. Remember I said they’re giving me a present? And everyone said: ‘What’s the present? Bull***t.’
“When they heard about that they kept their mouth shut and the negotiations are going very well.”
Four possible mission profiles to seize Kharg
SEIZING Kharg can be done with one of four mission profiles, Jonathan Hackett told The Sun.
Hackett, who served 20 years as a U.S. Marine Corps interrogator and special operations capabilities specialist, explained:
The mission goals would be the same across the four entities noted below: prepare the environment, assault Kharg Island, seize the infrastructure, hold the island, and transition the island to follow-on forces.
These five stages would become the phases of the operation: Phase 0 (prepare the environment), Phase 1 (assault), Phase 2 (seize), Phase 3 (hold), Phase 4 (transition).
1. Seize with the MRF
Marine Corps Maritime Raid Forces (MRF) are specially trained, manned, and equipped to carry out exactly this mission profile.
These units were formed in the 1980s amid the Tanker War and Operation Praying Mantis (1988) in the Persian Gulf.
In particular, one of their primary mission profiles is to conduct “goplats operations,” which is short for Gas/Oil Platform Operations.
These operations include target area preparation, seizure of an opposed target facility (i.e., seizing it under fire), holding the facility, and transitioning the facility to nearby elements of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force deployed on an amphibious assault ship that is part of an amphibious readiness group or an aircraft carrier.
This option is doctrinally the most aligned to the MRF, in contrast to the following three options that may win out for political rather than operational reasons.
2. Seize with the 75th Ranger Regiment
A seizure with the 75th Ranger Regiment is not a normal use of this force, but the 75th has conducted seizures in the past through parachute insertion into a denied area (Operation Anaconda in 2001 being the most recent example).
However, the 75th would require significant operational support from both conventional and special operations units to enable the insertion and secure the surrounding area while the assault force moves onto and clears the target area.
3. Seize with SOCOM/Joint forces
A SOCOM/Joint force profile would employ a special operations raid force in Phases 0 through 2, while transitioning to a conventional force such as the 82nd Airborne or a Marine Expeditionary Unit’s amphibious forces to hold and transition the facility.
4. Seize with combined forces
“Combined forces” means US and foreign partners working together to achieve a military objective.
Here, a US-Israeli commando operation is the most likely mission profile.
This would include a combination of one or some of the three US-only units listed above, plus Israel’s Flotilla 13 (IDF maritime special operations forces) plus Sayeret Matkal (IDF special operations forces). Israel would also provide air support, aerial reconnaissance, preparation of the environment, and signals and human intelligence (via Mossad, Aman, and Unit 8200).
This operation would require basing, access, and overflight from partner states in the Gulf and Levant.
Some countries have presented difficulties in the past for these types of requests, such as Turkey refusing 5th Special Forces Group access in 2003 to enter Iraq and Kyrgyzstan pulling access permissions for entry into Afghanistan at the close of that war.
The operation would also require significant sustainment and logistics capabilities deployed relatively close to, or inside of, the enemy weapons engagement zone.
Kharg Island is well inside of Iran’s EEZ, which would present not only a challenge to those contingency logistics and sustainment requirements (things like fuel, medical, quick reaction force transport, etc.) but also the diplomatic challenges of negotiating basing, access, and overflight.
