President Donald Trump has said the United States could launch further strikes on Iran’s main oil export hub at Kharg Island, suggesting additional attacks might occur “just for fun” after earlier bombardments.

Speaking to NBC News in a phone interview on Saturday, Trump said recent US strikes had caused extensive damage to the facility but indicated the site could still be targeted again.

“We may hit it a few more times just for fun,” he said, referring to the strategic oil terminal in the Persian Gulf.

Kharg Island is Iran’s primary oil export centre and a key part of the country’s energy infrastructure.

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Doubts over Iran’s leadership

During the same interview, Trump also questioned the status of Iran’s newly appointed supreme leader, saying it was unclear whether he was still alive. He did not provide evidence for the claim.

His remarks came as US and Israeli forces continued military operations against Iranian targets during the ongoing conflict.

Strait of Hormuz operations

Trump also addressed the security of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route for global oil supplies.

Asked whether Iran had deployed naval mines in the waterway, Trump said it was not yet clear.

He said the United States planned to carry out operations to secure the strait and ensure safe passage for ships.

“We’re going to be sweeping the strait very strongly,” he said, adding that other countries affected by the disruption to oil shipments could join the effort.

Call for international support

In a post on Truth Social, Trump urged nations that rely on oil passing through the Strait of Hormuz to help safeguard the route.

“The United States of America has beaten and completely decimated Iran, both militarily and economically,” he wrote, adding that countries receiving oil through the strait “must take care of that passage”.

He said the US would coordinate with partners to keep the route open during the conflict.

Deal with Iran not close

Trump also said he was not ready to agree to a deal with Tehran to end the fighting.

“Iran wants to make a deal,” he said, but added that the proposed terms “aren’t good enough yet”.

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  Adapted by ASEAN Now · Source · 14.March 2026

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This guy has lost it he thinks this is FUN !!! you Yanks have a lot to answer for letting a madman you voted in on the world shame on you America !!

1 hour ago, MikeandDow said:

This guy has lost it he thinks this is FUN !!! you Yanks have a lot to answer for letting a madman you voted in on the world shame on you America !!

Sure as Bruce Wayne said to Joker (Jack Nicholson) same as to whatever Iranians left are in charge:

LIGHTS OUT! Now you wanna get nuts? Come on! Let's get nuts.

2 hours ago, MikeandDow said:

This guy has lost it he thinks this is FUN !!! you Yanks have a lot to answer for letting a madman you voted in on the world shame on you America !!

Like me, many voted against Harris and not necessarily for Trump. He has turned out to be the worst president (out of 13) in my lifetime. I agree, he has brought great shame to America.

Trump says US could strike Iran’s Kharg Island again “just for fun”.

Trump is right up there with Roman emperors Caligula and Nero. He'll no doubt will be golfing when the Fifth Fleet burns.

No other national leader in their right mind will consider the USA a serious nation. It's not just Trump. Americans elected this horror show twice!

Iran is dependent on Kharg Island. This is his way of threatening them to let shipping through the Strait. I mentioned in a separate thread that the Marines on their way to the Middle East might end up on Kharg Island. I have since heard this mentioned by someone else. Obviously Trump doesn't want to blow up the oil infrastructure on the island but it is a very big bargaining chip.

2 hours ago, MikeandDow said:

This guy has lost it he thinks this is FUN !!! you Yanks have a lot to answer for letting a madman you voted in on the world shame on you America !!

Yeah and the people protesting against ICE , Doge, for BLM, DEI, trans , where are they ?

No protests like against the Vietnam war ?

So now they are ok with trump's killing "just for fun" ?

Couple of months ago all this over army refusing illegit orders ,

still they go fight the 2 madmen's war.

I guess when your house is in order (🤨) and economy is great (😬),

you have time to go kill for fun.

Just for fun huh huh.

8 minutes ago, FlorC said:

Yeah and the people protesting against ICE , Doge, for BLM, DEI, trans , where are they ?

No protests like against the Vietnam war ?

I doubt there were massive protests in the second week of the Vietnam war

28 minutes ago, dinsdale said:

Iran is dependent on Kharg Island. This is his way of threatening them to let shipping through the Strait. I mentioned in a separate thread that the Marines on their way to the Middle East might end up on Kharg Island. I have since heard this mentioned by someone else. Obviously Trump doesn't want to blow up the oil infrastructure on the island but it is a very big bargaining chip.

Dont try and justify this mad man NO LEADER of the free world says killing is FUN !! if you support him which i know you do you should hang your head in shame Killing is FUN !!

5 minutes ago, MikeandDow said:

Dont try and justify this mad man NO LEADER of the free world says killing is FUN !! if you support him which i know you do you should hang your head in shame Killing is FUN !!

How do you equate taking out the oil installation with killing? BTW the installation could have easily been taken out with the attack yesterday (day before?).

3 minutes ago, dinsdale said:

How do you equate taking out the oil installation with killing? BTW the installation could have easily been taken out with the attack yesterday (day before?).

Are you saying nobody got hurt on bombing of the oil installation if you are you are even more moronic than i thought there is NO justification in saying its FUN to bomb anything that is madness !! you feel no shame in supporting a madman !!!

Looks like he hit one into the water trap. No doubt he'll drop a ball in the hole when nobody is looking and claim a "hole in one," because that's just who he is.

14 minutes ago, MikeandDow said:

Are you saying nobody got hurt on bombing of the oil installation if you are you are even more moronic than i thought there is NO justification in saying its FUN to bomb anything that is madness !! you feel no shame in supporting a madman !!!

The oil instillation on Kharg Island wasn't bombed.

16 minutes ago, dinsdale said:

The oil instillation on Kharg Island wasn't bombed.

the military was bombed killing people and your hero thinks its fun !! and you are the one stated " taking out the oil installation" you should be ashamed of yourself supporting a madman

1 hour ago, dinsdale said:

Iran is dependent on Kharg Island. This is his way of threatening them to let shipping through the Strait. I mentioned in a separate thread that the Marines on their way to the Middle East might end up on Kharg Island. I have since heard this mentioned by someone else. Obviously Trump doesn't want to blow up the oil infrastructure on the island but it is a very big bargaining chip.

The trouble is if he does blow up the oil installations it will affect the world price of oil, analysts estimate the price would move to $120-$150 a barrel.

China would be forced to buy from other suppliers, further driving the price up.

Satellite pics apparently (Daniel Davis channel) show damage to Kharg was minimal. The action was a threat. Paradoxically, though, more to GCC countries than Iran.

Because Iran has made clear if Kharg oil infra is struck then they'll take out all, repeat all, GCC oil and desalination infra which essentially turns those countries back to desert end to end. Which means you can bet your last penny those six weaselly monarchs are right now screaming into the phone at Jared and Steve (you know, the Laurel and Hardy pair whom they've given billions) to knock sense into Trump. And not just the GCC. The prospect of $250+/barrel of oil means there's a lot of screaming going on in the US and the world.

Oh, and you remember those continuous warning shrieks from Zionists for 30 years now that Iran will have the bomb next month? Well, finally, they got it right. Fatwas die with the ayatollah and the new one's supposedly given the order to the IRGC to take their stockpile of 400+ kg of 60% enriched uranium to 90+ asap, make at least 6 warheads and fit them into Fattah-2 hypersonic glide warheads.

Trump and his forever War !! Madness

2 hours ago, dinsdale said:

Iran is dependent on Kharg Island. This is his way of threatening them to let shipping through the Strait. I mentioned in a separate thread that the Marines on their way to the Middle East might end up on Kharg Island. I have since heard this mentioned by someone else. Obviously Trump doesn't want to blow up the oil infrastructure on the island but it is a very big bargaining chip.

Iran has a second, fairly new oil terminal, on the Gulf of Oman (before the Straits of Hormuz). The challenge is that the Marines have to run the gauntlet through the Straits of Hormuz, and the US Government has given the Iranians, and Houthis, lots and lots of notice, by telling the world about it. There is zero element of surprise. Of course they might not be there for that.

Operation Urgent Fury saw 7-8000 marines, in a combined air and sea assault invade the Caribbean island of Grenada, where the opposition was about 700-800 Cuban troops with a couple of armoured cars. Are 2500 Marines enough, even after softening up of Kharg Island?

The arrival of the Tripoli to where the Ospreys are within range will be extremely well announced, at the very least, expect Iranian spotters BOTH sides of the Straits. Planners will plan for at least a 3:1 superiority.

In the 1970s, US discovered Iran had put ashore a force of about 1000 troops (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-05/kharg-island-iran-oil-terminal-israeli-target/104435510). The island is only 25kms off the Iranian coast. While the runway there has had at least one bomb hit (one wonders why the Americans waited more than a week to hit the airbase there. The Pentagon videos show an airbase with literally no prior damage), the island can easily be reinforced by helicopter. Iran has (had) about 200 transport helicoptors, including Chinooks, and an unlimited number of small surface vessals.

In the Iran-Iraq war, Iraq pounded the island. Afterwards, Iran rebuilt the place with hardened bunkers and a network of tunnels (sound familiar). The IDF knows that years of pounding Gaza created more and more of a complex battlefield. Pretty stupid; the Germans found this at Stalingrad. Even if the nearby Imam Sadegh Corps has been smashed to bits, it still has under its command about 10,000 men. The IRGC could probably get over to the island an additional 2-3000 extremely motivated men, dug in, likely armed with RPGs. They will know where the Ospreys will come in; the airport.

The 31st MEU consists of 3 elements. VM232 is their Osprey squadron. That could fly in 288 troops in a single wave. Assume losses when landing at the airport; the Osprey is a large, noisy, unarmoured aircraft. Some bloke with a RPG could take pot shots at it quite easily.

The Battalion Landing Team has a strength of about 1000 men, of which 200 are HQ/brass. So 800m fighting troops.

Those "2500 marines" actually amounts to about 1100 fighting troops.

On the eastern side of the island are cliffs. On the Western side, there are various jetties, likely heavily defended. There are a few beaches on then Western side that have a shallow shelving suitable for hovercraft landing. Iran has its own domestic combat Hovercrafts, based on British designs supplied in the 1970s. The American hovercrafts (LCAC) date from the mid-80s. I suspect the Iranians have a pretty good understanding of these, and have prepared the beaches to resist these things landing. They've had 47 years to do that. The whole place could be booby trapped.

Consider this; Iran and Iraq were at war with each other for years. Iraq pounded the island, but could not capture it, because even the Iraqis concluded an amphibious assault would be too difficult. Iraq operated Polish made Polnochny-class landing craft.

And the Marines will have a unit memory of Iwo Jima, Guadacanal and Saipan.

Here is a tour of Kharg Island, what the marines can look forward to seeing:

1. Substantive civilian population of 8000-10,000

2. Substantial town, numerous narrow streets, housing, basements, sniper nests

3. Important cultural sites, both global but also important to the Sunni/Shia co-religionists, for the entire Gulf region

4. Important national site of mourning for Iran; the Iran-Iraq war united Iran. Even those who backed the Shah, backed Iran in that.

5. Complex industrial areas; storage tanks, pipe works, things that burn well. Think of Mariupol, where a small number of well motivated Ukrainian defenders fended off a much larger Russian force for months

6. Date plantations, providing natural cover for equipment and men

7. Caves. The island is full of caves, natural and man made. This should make a Marine break out in a cold sweat.

8. Restricted access; detailed intel on local topography is limited. This is not an easy place for the Israelis to infiltrate to covertly recce.

The media thinks the Americans will seize the island as some sort of bargaining chip. The Iranians will likely think they can't hold it, but can give the Americans a very bloody nose, which might be enough. They would effectively write off the terminal. Their contingency is their Gulf of Oman terminal; could be expanded. And time; America has attention deficit disorder, it gets bored, there are upcoming elections. The Americans will one day go home, more so under the current Administration, which has an aversion to extended operations.

I suppose just stopping all the bombing would be out of the question.

3 hours ago, bannork said:

The trouble is if he does blow up the oil installations it will affect the world price of oil, analysts estimate the price would move to $120-$150 a barrel.

China would be forced to buy from other suppliers, further driving the price up.

He's not going to blow it up he's going to take it over (IMO).

6 hours ago, dinsdale said:

Iran is dependent on Kharg Island. This is his way of threatening them to let shipping through the Strait. I mentioned in a separate thread that the Marines on their way to the Middle East might end up on Kharg Island. I have since heard this mentioned by someone else. Obviously Trump doesn't want to blow up the oil infrastructure on the island but it is a very big bargaining chip.

But the Iranians have said that any attacks on their oil facilities will result in them attacking the oil facilities of any GCC providing assistance to the US. There is going to be a whole mess of pollution to clean up.

Trump's construction company owning cronies must be rubbing their hands with glee.

8 minutes ago, dinsdale said:

He's not going to blow it up he's going to take it over (IMO).

Oh you have a direct line to the madmans office !! total BS post nobodys knows what is going to happen at this moment its just your opinion

Nice. Wack them for fun Donny...

1 hour ago, MikeandDow said:

Oh you have a direct line to the madmans office !! total BS post nobodys knows what is going to happen at this moment its just your opinion

"IMO" This is what I wrote.

There's a whole lot of marines heading in that direction now? Where they're going of course we don't know and there's a fair chance they don't apart from the Middle East. Securing the island as I have said from the beginning is a POSSIBLE scenario.

There is only one place for Trump - a prison for criminals who are mentally insane, preferably somewhere in Israel.

Iran ‘to allow Chinese ships’ through Strait of Hormuz

Iran may allow Hormuz oil shipments if traded in yuan: Report - Türkiye Today

Big threat to the 'oil dollar'!

BRICS created a currency union to challenge the USD. This totally undermines it and could it force the US to pay its debts?

Mass sell off of US treasury bonds by China and Gulf States to follow?

Had a chuckle on Facebook; poster said Trump will soon be releasing the Epstein files as a distraction from the total mess of his Iran war.

19 hours ago, Hawaiian said:

Like me, many voted against Harris and not necessarily for Trump. He has turned out to be the worst president (out of 13) in my lifetime. I agree, he has brought great shame to America.

You bring great honor to yourself by admitting that you voted for Trump and admitting that he has turned out to be a completely different man than you thought he was. Criticism is the very foundation of democracy and so many of his supporters are petrified to engage in it.

3 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

You bring great honor to yourself by admitting that you voted for Trump and admitting that he has turned out to be a completely different man than you thought he was. Criticism is the very foundation of democracy and so many of his supporters are petrified to engage in it.

Agree not many on this forum would admit they voted for trump!! even less would admint the us is now under a dictator

Yes, a dictator can be elected. Many modern dictators initially gain power through legitimate, democratic elections, after which they dismantle democratic checks and balances to establish authoritarian rule

. This scenario is sometimes referred to as an "elective dictatorship," where a leader uses a democratic mandate to consolidate power, control institutions, and suppress opposition. trump to a tee!!