Trump says U.S. will seize Iran's Kharg Island, oil infrastructure

Key Points:

• President Donald Trump threatened to seize Iran's oil infrastructure, including its main export terminal Kharg Island, and claimed the U.S. military would attack Iran "VERY HARD" following recent airstrikes.
• Kharg Island accounts for about 90% of Iran's crude shipments, and while the U.S. Navy has blockaded Iranian ports, the administration has largely avoided directly targeting Iran's oil infrastructure until now.
• Trump compared the potential seizure of Iran's oil assets to the U.S. takeover of Venezuela's oil exports earlier this year, where revenues are controlled by the U.S. Treasury following a military raid.
• Despite the threats, Trump expressed uncertainty about America's willingness to seize Kharg Island and indicated ongoing talks with Iran, even as he escalated military pressure after Iran shot down a U.S. Apache helicopter.
• Iran has refused to comply with U.S. demands to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and abandon its nuclear program, maintaining control over the strategic waterway critical to global oil shipments.