Trump Threatens To Take Iran Oil Infrastructure, Hit Country ‘very Hard Tonight’

President Donald Trump escalated his threats against Iran, announcing that the U.S. intends to strike the country Thursday night and take control of Kharg Island, a strip of land home to Iran’s most important oil facility.

“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,” he wrote on Truth Social, the social media platform he owns.

The president’s post marked his most serious threat against Iran since before the two sides agreed to a ceasefire in April. It comes after U.S. forces launched airstrikes in Iran this week, with the ceasefire increasingly under strain and peace talks stalled.

This isn’t the first time Trump has taken to Truth Social to invoke dire threats against Iran since the U.S. and Israel first struck the country in late February. In April, just before the two sides agreed to the ceasefire, Trump warned that a “whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.”

The president’s plan to assert control over Kharg — an island in the Persian Gulf that serves as Iran’s main oil export hub — “at some point in the not too distant future” would mark a major shift in the war effort, now well into its fourth month.

In addition to previewing new attack plans against the Middle East country, Trump said the U.S. would “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.”

But almost immediately after making his social media post, Trump questioned whether America “has the stomach” for a larger conflict in a Fox News interview.

“I'm not sure the country has the appetite for it. Does that make sense to you?” he said. “As good as it is. By the way, as good as it is, that’s always been my number one thing. But as good as it is, I’m not sure the country has the appetite for it. And that’s OK, I understand that.“

On Wednesday, he told reporters that the U.S. would “be attacking them very hard” in response to the downing of an American Apache helicopter Monday near Oman after, Trump said, being struck by Iran. The two sides have traded strikes, with Iran targeting American assets in other Middle Eastern nations.

This is a breaking news story that will be updated. Ben Johansen contributed to this report.