“We Will Be Taking Kharg Island” — Trump Threatens Invasion of Iran

President Donald Trump said he has reversed plans to launch a massive attack on Iran Thursday night, mere hours after stating that he intended to invade Kharg Island, which handles most of Iran’s oil production.

Such an invasion would likely require a large force of ground troops, and under certain circumstances, could be viewed as a war crime.

On Thursday morning, Trump made two comments on invading Kharg Island — one on his Truth Social page, and another in a television interview.

“The United States will be hitting Iran (Whose Navy, Air Force, Radar, Anti Aircraft, and all other forms of Defense, together with most of its offensive capability, are GONE!), VERY HARD TONIGHT,” Trump wrote in his post, adding:

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.

In a phone interview with Fox News, Trump reiterated his plans to invade the island.

“My preference has always been — take Kharg Island … my preference would be that,” Trump said.

The president admitted that his plans could be unpopular among the public. “I don’t know that America has the stomach for ​it,” he said.

Later in the day, Trump made another Truth Social post, announcing that he was canceling his original plan to “be hitting Iran” with military force that evening.

“Based on the fact that discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran have been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved, I have, as President of the United States of America, cancelled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran this evening,” Trump wrote in his post.

Trump also said that “Discussions and final points have been, in both concept and great detail, approved by all parties involved,” including the U.S., Israel, Saudi Arabia, and other nations. However, his post did not include the subject matter of those discussions — and Iran was not included on the list of countries taking part.

It was also unclear whether plans to invade Kharg Island had been dropped.

The Trump administration has reportedly been making plans to “take” Kharg Island for several months. However, according to reporting from CNN, such plans have been repeatedly shelved due to the risks involved, as Trump advisors have indicated that an invasion of the island would require the use of ground troops, which could result in high casualties.

While viewed as a strategic area with access to up to 90 percent of Iranian oil production, Kharg Island is also home to more than 8,000 permanent residents. Earlier this year, the U.S. bombed the island but stopped short of a full-on invasion. After those attacks, residents noted that “the island doesn’t really have a military base,” and that there is no real way to evacuate to the mainland due to the airport being targeted by strikes.

A U.S. attack on Kharg Island could constitute a war crime, as oil production plants are considered civilian infrastructure if they are not used for military purposes. Attacks that harm civilians on the island itself would also violate international law.

Hamidreza Azizi, an Iran foreign policy expert, questioned Trump’s reasoning for expressing a desire to attack Kharg Island.

“There are two possible interpretations” to Trump’s threats, Azizi said. “Either he is making such threats to create panic within the Iranian leadership and force it into concessions, or he is genuinely considering further escalation.”

“Such a move would almost certainly force Iran to abandon the relative caution it has shown over the past week, which was driven primarily by lingering hopes of securing a deal with the United States, even if only a temporary one,” Azizi added. “Even if Trump’s statements are intended merely as threats and form part of his coercive diplomatic approach, they only heighten anxiety on the Iranian side and further narrow the path toward any potential diplomatic settlement.”

Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of the Parliament of Iran, seemingly confirmed Azizi’s assessments in a social media post.

“Wrong strategies and impulsive decisions will reset the entire board for the worse, explode energy infrastructure and markets and create an endless quagmire that you will be stuck in for years,” Ghalibaf wrote on X. “You will see a different Iran.”