Trump Says He Wants Iran's Oil, Insists Peace Talks Going 'Extremely Well'
US President Donald Trump said he wants to “take the oil in Iran” and perhaps seize Kharg Island, while at the same time insisting that Washington is doing “extremely well” in negotiations with Iran and said he is "pretty sure" a peace deal will be reached.
The mixing of threats and the possibility of peace deal with Tehran came in an interview published late on March 29 in the Financial Times and remarks an hour later to reporters aboardAir Force One.
To reporters, Trump hailed progress in talks with Iran, saying they were being held directly and indirectly and asserted that Tehran was partially opening the crucial Strait of Hormuz, the waterway through which some 20 percent of the world's oil and natural gas supplies pass.
He didn't elaborate on what he called direct talks with Iran, whose leaders deny negotiations are taking place. Tehran has said it received a 15-point US peace plan, which it said it would not accept.
"We are 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...whether it's with B52 bombers" or by having torn up the 2015 landmark nuclear deal that Tehran signed with world powers, including the United States, Russia, and China.
"I think we will make a deal with them. Pretty sure. But it's possible we won't," he told reporters. "But we've had regime change already. [The Iranian] regime was decimated, destroyed. They're all dead."
He said, without being specific, that the current leaders have been "very reasonable."
In the FT interview, Trump said that “my preference would be to take the oil," likening the situation to that of Venezuela, where the said the intends to take control of the oil industry “indefinitely” after US forces captured strongman leader Nicolas Maduro in January.
“To be honest with you, my favorite 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,” Trump was quoted by the FT as saying.
“Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don’t. We have a lot of options,” Trump said, referring to the hub where most of Iran's oil is exported.
“It would also mean we had to be there [in Kharg Island] for a while,” he said “I don’t think they have any defense. We could take it very easily.”
Despite the threats, Trump insisted that indirect talks between the US and Iran via Pakistani “emissaries” were progressing well. Trump has imposed an April 6 deadline for Iran to accept a deal ending the war or face US strikes on its power plants.
Foremost on the administration's demand list is the reopening of the crucial Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has largely blocked, creating a bottleneck of oil and natural gas shipments.
Tehran has said it would allow "nonhostile" nations' ships to pass safely, which Trump hailed as progress.
Read more here.
Middle East War Casualty Lists Updated
The French AFP news agency has compiled a list of casualties reported in countries around the Middle East linked to the US-Israeli war with Iran.
AFP said it has not been able to independently verify all of the tolls, which are based on numbers released by governments, militaries, health authorities, and rescue organizations.
IRAN
Iran's government has not released an updated overall casualty toll in recent days.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) on April 4 said at least 3,540 people had been killed, including 1,616 civilians -- including at least 244 children -- 1,213 military personnel, and 711 people whose status had not been classified.
Due to reporting restrictions, it is not possible to independently verify tolls in Iran.
LEBANON
Lebanon's Health Ministry on April 5 said 1,461 people had been killed and 4,430 wounded since the start of the war -- 1,235 men, 97 women, and 129 children.
The UN force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has said three of its peacekeepers have been killed.
The Lebanese army said 10 of its soldiers had been killed.
Hezbollah has not announced its losses.
ISRAEL
Israeli emergency services and authorities say attacks have killed a total of 19 civilians since the start of the war.
The Israeli military has separately announced the deaths of 11 soldiers in combat in southern Lebanon.
WEST BANK
The Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah said four women were killed by Iranian missile fire in the occupied West Bank.
IRAQ
Armed groups and officials have said at least 108 people have been killed in Iraq since the start of the war.
France said an Iranian drone killed a French soldier in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region.
The US military said a refueling aircraft crashed in western Iraq, killing all six crew members, in an incident not caused by hostile or friendly fire.
Pro-Iran armed factions and security sources claim 74 Iran-backed fighters have been killed in strikes they blame on Israel and the United States.
The Iraq government has said 10 members of the security services have been killed.
Authorities in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region said a missile attack killed six fighters and accused Iran of launching the strike.
GULF
Authorities in Gulf states and the US Central Command (CENTCOM) have reported a total of 41 people killed -- 22 of them civilians -- since the start of the Iranian attacks.
The rest were military or security personnel, including seven US service members.
The breakdown:
Kuwait's military and Health Ministry have reported seven deaths: two soldiers, two border guards and three civilians, one of them an 11-year-old girl.
The United Arab Emirates reported 12 deaths: nine civilians and two military personnel who died as a result of a helicopter crash blamed on a technical malfunction.
Saudi Arabia's civil defense agency has reported two civilian deaths.
Bahrain reported two civilian deaths. The UAE defense ministry separately said a Moroccan contractor for the Emirati military was killed during an Iranian attack in Bahrain.
Oman reported the death of a mariner at sea and two other people in a drone attack on an industrial area.
Qatar said four servicemen and three Turkish nationals -- including one serviceman and two civilians -- were killed in a helicopter crash in Qatar's territorial waters.
US Casualties
In addition to the deaths of seven military personnel in the Gulf and six in Iraq, the US military has recorded more than 300 wounded in its ranks, most of them slightly injured.
A US official told AFP that 10 remain seriously wounded in seven different countries.
Trump Says Deadline To Open Strait Is Evening Of April 7
US President Donald Trump told The Wall Street Journal that his deadline for Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face attacks on critical infrastructure is the evening of April 7.
"If they don’t do something by Tuesday evening, they won’t have any power plants and they won’t have any bridges standing,” Trump told the WSJ in an interview conducted on April 5.
“If they don’t come through, if they want to keep [the strait] closed, they’re going to lose every power plant and every other plant they have in the whole country,” Trump was quoted by the newspaper as saying.
In a cryptic social media post after the WSJ interview, Trump wrote only: "Tuesday, 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time!"
In a social media post earlier on Sunday, Trump had said Iran would face infrastructure attacks if it did not open the strait by April 7.
"Tuesday [April 7] will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the F****** Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell - JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah. President DONALD J. TRUMP," he wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform.
Trump also said that he plans to hold a news conference on April 6 at 1 p.m.
He has set several deadlines in the past and often has extended the deadlines, saying that negotiations were making progress.
Asked when he believed the war would end, Trump told the WSJ: “I will let you know pretty soon.”
“But we are in a position that’s very strong, and that country will take 20 years to rebuild, if they’re lucky, if they have a country,” he said. “And if they don’t do something by Tuesday evening, they won’t have any power plants and they won’t have any bridges standing.”
Trump has been making multiple social media posts and media interviews following the rescue of the second crew member rescued after the two-seat F-15E jet fighter was shot down in Iran. The jet's pilot was rescued shortly after the plane went down on April 3.
Trump Ramps Up Threat To Iran After Announcing Rescue Of Missing F-15 Crew Member
- By RFE/RL
US President Donald Trump repeated his threat to strike Iranian infrastructure hard if Tehran it does not open the Strait of Hormuz by April 6, using explosive language hours after announcing that US forces rescued the second crew member of a downed F-15 fighter jet in a high-risk mission.
"Tuesday [April 7] will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the F****** Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell - JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah. President DONALD J. TRUMP," he wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform.
Shortly thereafter, though, Trump told Fox News that Tehran "is negotiating now" and that he believes there's a "good chance" of reaching a deal by April 6.
Trump also suggested that, along with further US air strikes, he could take Iran's oil if the regime is unwilling to make a deal.
"I think there is a good chance tomorrow [April 6]. They are negotiating now," Trump said.
"If they don't make a deal and fast, I'm considering blowing everything up and taking over the oil," he added.
Trump also said that the United States had provided weapons to Iranian protesters "through the Kurds. And I think the Kurds kept them.” Thousands of Iranians were killed or arrested during mass street demonstrations against the government earlier this year.
Read more here.
Israel Targets 'Hezbollah Infrastructure,' Strikes Hit Beirut And Southern Lebanon
Israeli air strikes hit Beirut and southern Lebanon on April 5, killing at least four people in the capital and several others in the south, according to Lebanese authorities and state media.
A strike in Beirut’s Jnah district, near Rafik Hariri University Hospital, killed four people and wounded dozens, the Lebanese Health Ministry said, while witnesses reported heavy bombardment in the southern suburbs. Israel’s military said it had “begun striking Hezbollah infrastructure sites.”
In southern Lebanon, at least seven people were killed in Kfar Hatta, including a displaced family of six, the Health Ministry and civil defense sources told the AFP news agency, with three other deaths reported in another air strike, according to state media.
Israel also threatened to target the Masnaa border crossing with Syria, prompting its closure. A Syrian official said the crossing was “exclusively for civilian use and is not used for any military purposes.”
Hezbollah said it fired a cruise missile at an Israeli warship, though Israel said it was “not aware” of such an incident.
With reporting by AFP and dpa
Trump Says Deal Possible In Next Day, Reiterates Threat To Blow Up 'Everything'
US President Donald Trump says that Iran "is negotiating now" and that he believes there's a "good chance" of reaching a deal in the next day, hours after he renewed his vow to put Iran into living "hell" with massive US air strikes.
In an interview with Fox News on April 5, Trump also suggested that, along with further US air strikes, he could take Iran's oil if the regime is unwilling to make a deal.
"I think there is a good chance tomorrow [April 6]. They are negotiating now," Trump said.
"If they don't make a deal and fast, I'm considering blowing everything up and taking over the oil," he added.
Trump said that the Iranian negotiators currently in talks had been granted limited immunity.
The remarks came as Trump announced that US forces had rescued the second crew member of a downed F-15 fighter jet in a high-risk mission.
In a Truth Social post earlier on April 5, Trump again demanded that Iran open the crucial Strait of Hormuz to shipping as an energy crisis deepened and fuel prices continued to soar because of the bottleneck created in the waterway.
Trump Warns Iran Over Strait Of Hormuz, Threatens Power Plants And Bridges
US President Donald Trump has issued a stark warning to Iran over the Strait of Hormuz.
In a social media post on April 5, he suggested that the United States would launch an extensive attack on Iranian energy and transport infrastructure on April 7 if the crucial waterway was not reopened.
US President Donald Trump has said in a Truth Social post that Iranian forces were “getting close” to finding the downed US airman before he was rescued, adding further details to the operation he had announced earlier. He also said he would be holding a news conference with military officials at the Oval Office on April 6.
Israeli Strikes Reported In Lebanon
Israeli strikes hit Lebanon on April 5, including an attack in south Beirut near Rafik Hariri University Hospital, the country’s largest public medical facility, Lebanese state media reported.
A medical source told the AFP news agency that the strike landed about 100 meters from the hospital in the Jnah area.
The Israeli military had earlier said it had begun targeting Hezbollah infrastructure sites in the Lebanese capital.
Elsewhere, a Lebanese soldier was killed in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese Army said.
In Kfar Hatta, an Israeli strike reportedly killed seven people, including a displaced family of six, according to civil defense sources.
Israel had earlier issued evacuation warnings.
Iran's Digital Shutdown Is The Longest On Record, Says Web Monitor
Meanwhile, Iran's ongoing digital blackout is "now the longest nation-scale internet shutdown on record," according to the NetBlocks web-outage monitor,
Reports: At Least 5 Killed In US-Israeli Attacks Amid Pilot Rescue Operation
At least five people were reported killed in US-Israeli attacks in Iran during operations to rescue a crew member from a downed F-15 fighter jet, according to Iranian media.
The Tasnim News Agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), quoted a local governor as saying five people were killed in the “Black Mountain” area of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province.
Separately, Iran’s IRNA state news agency said five IRGC fighters were killed in strikes in the Moghan Plain in the northwest.
The claims could not be independently verified. US President Donald Trump said both crew members of the F-15 plane had been rescued and no Americans were injured.