US Threatens Strikes on Iran and Signals Interest in Oil Infrastructure Amid Rising Tensions

PTI, June 11, 2026, Dubai: US President Donald Trump threatened Thursday to launch major strikes on Iran and seize control of its oil and gas industries as continuing attacks between the warring countries pushed the Middle East closer to the resumption of a full-scale war.

Trump said in a social media post that the US would hit Iran "VERY HARD TONIGHT" and would "assume total control" of Iran's oil and gas industries, including the key Kharg Island oil terminal, in the "not too distant future". The US President compared his plans for Iran to how the US assumed control of Venezuela's oil sector after capturing then-president Nicolás Maduro in January.

The post comes after the US and Iran traded strikes for a second straight day. The American attack, which lasted into Thursday morning in Iran, appeared more intense and widespread than the day before. Iran released little information on the extent of the damage and said it fired back at Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan, as it had a day before.

Trump's threats on Thursday, while stark, represented his latest verbal escalation in the Iran war. In April, he warned Iran that "a whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again" if it didn't agree to his terms, before extending a ceasefire in the war.

Kharg Island — located on the other side of the Persian Gulf from US bases in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia — is the beating heart of Iran's oil industry, through which 90 per cent of its exports pass. It is important because Iran's coastline is mostly too shallow for tanker ships to dock.

American troops would be vulnerable on Kharg Island because of its close proximity — about 33 kilometres (21 miles) — to the Iranian mainland, from which missiles, drones and artillery could be fired.

The US military continued to enforce its blockade of Iranian ports, saying Thursday it fired missiles to disable a tanker attempting to transport Iranian oil.

An Indian official said a US strike on a different merchant ship earlier this week killed three Indian sailors.

It was the third time this week that back-and-forth strikes have rattled the Middle East. The first involved attacks between Iran and Israel, followed by the two rounds of fire between the US and Iran, which hit countries in the region that host American bases.

Trump indicated in the interview that he remains averse to sending US forces into Iran.

"We could walk in there tomorrow. We could take soldiers — I don't want to have boots on the ground. But if I wanted to, we could put a small group of soldiers and take over the place."

Trump compared his threat to take over Iran's oil industry to how the US assumed control of Venezuela's oil sector after capturing then-president Nicolas Maduro in January.

American strikes on Iran that lasted into Thursday morning appeared more intense and widespread than the day before.

Tehran released little information on the extent of the damage and said it fired back at Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan, as it had the previous day.

Iran's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Thursday that the US attacks had "effectively rendered the ceasefire ... meaningless", without saying it was abandoning it.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a social media post that the US would extract funds from frozen Iranian accounts to offset the costs of damage to American allies, as well as any tolls Iran imposes on ships seeking passage through the Strait of Hormuz.