President Donald Trump openly mused about seizing Iran’s Kharg Island oil terminal in the Persian Gulf and the United States and Israel kept up their attacks Monday on the Islamic Republic, even as there were signs of progress in nascent ceasefire talks.
Tehran, meanwhile, struck a key water and electrical plant in hard-hit Kuwait, part of its campaign targeting the Gulf Arab states.
As a diplomatic effort being facilitated by Pakistan toward ending the war moved ahead, Trump said Iran had agreed to allow 20 oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz starting Monday as “a sign of respect.”
At the same time, with 2,500 U.S. Marines now in the region and a similar sized contingent on its way, he raised the idea of taking Iran's Kharg Island.
“Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don't,” he told the Financial Times in an interview published early Monday. “We have a lot of options.”
Iran has threatened to mine the Persian Gulf if its territory is invaded. The United States and Israel kept up their attacks Monday on the Islamic Republic, even as there were signs of progress in nascent ceasefire talks.
Iran struck a key water and electrical plant in hard-hit Kuwait, part of its ongoing campaign targeting the Gulf Arab states.
Trump also said that 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.”
“I would only say that 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,” he said.
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