00:00My preference has always been take Karg Island.
00:02Brian knows that. I spoke to him a long time ago. Lawrence knows it.
00:06A straightforward threat from President Trump to take over Iran's centerpiece for crude oil exports,
00:12all while the U.S. military launches a fresh wave of strikes on the beleaguered Islamic Republic.
00:18What is Iran's Karg Island, and why does Trump want to take over the country's oil haven?
00:23Here's what you need to know.
00:24On June 11th, President Trump shared an intimidating threat to Iran on Truth Social,
00:30vowing that the U.S. military planned to target and take over Iran's Karg Island.
00:35At some point in the not-too-distant future, we will be taking Karg Island and other oil infrastructure points
00:41and assume total control of their oil and gas markets, much like we have with Venezuela, Trump wrote.
00:47But Trump seemed to temper his threat within the hour during a phone interview with Fox & Friends,
00:52keeping Iranian officials guessing whether he actually would seize the strategic island in the Persian Gulf.
00:58I don't know that America has the stomach for it, to be honest with you.
01:01You're going to make a fortune.
01:02But I don't know that America has the stomach.
01:05I think they'd like to see us come home.
01:07But we did it with Venezuela, and Venezuela has worked out great.
01:10The President's threats come as the U.S. restarted strikes against the Republic on June 9th,
01:15after an American Apache helicopter was brought down over the Strait of Hormuz by an Iranian drone.
01:21Both warring countries had entered a fragile ceasefire agreement in April.
01:25But Trump panned the temporary truce as, quote,
01:28the most violated ceasefire in the history of the world,
01:30and opted to resume attacks after grumbling that Iran was, quote,
01:34tapping us along.
01:35When asked by a Fox News correspondent about what would happen if Iran didn't sign a U.S.-led peace deal,
01:42the President shared choice words.
01:44I asked him what will happen if the Iranians do not sign an agreement
01:48that was put forward by American negotiators.
01:51President Trump said, quote,
01:52we'll bomb the S out of them tomorrow night.
01:55Trump has blockaded Iran's port since April 13th,
01:58but U.S. officials say that a quirk in Iranian oil infrastructure
02:01means that pipelines can still send fuel to Karg Island
02:04and cannot be turned off.
02:06Trump has flirted with military operations targeting Karg Island earlier
02:10in Operation Epic Fury,
02:12but has so far refrained from knocking out Iran's oil industry infrastructure,
02:16viewing it as too important to the country's future.
02:19In March, Trump teased taking Karg Island in a truth social post.
02:23If the Hormuz Strait is not immediately open for business,
02:26we will conclude our lovely stay in Iran
02:29by blowing up and completely obliterating
02:31all of their electric-generating plants,
02:34oil wells, and Karg Island, he wrote.
02:37Karg Island sits just 15 nautical miles
02:39off the main coast of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
02:43The small rocky island made of hard coral
02:45sitting in the Persian Gulf is just five miles long,
02:49but hosts one of the most strategically critical oil terminals on the planet.
02:53Because the waters around Iran's main coastline
02:55are too shallow for the proper oil tankers to operate,
02:59the Islamic Republic instead pumps the vast majority of its oil
03:02through underwater pipelines to the island.
03:04Being that gas and oil experts are among the cornerstones of Iran's economy,
03:09if it lost control of Karg Island to the United States,
03:12it would be a significant financial blow to the IRGC
03:15and its abilities to keep up in the conflict.
03:18The loss of the island could also provide the U.S.
03:20with considerable leverage in any negotiations with the Islamic Republic.
03:24Earlier in March, United States Central Command said
03:26more than 90 military targets had been struck on the island,
03:30however that no damage had been done to its oil facilities.
03:33A seizure of the island could also send oil prices even higher.
03:37Even if the United States controlled the Islamic Republic's main export terminal,
03:41its production would still be controlled by Iran,
03:43which would render the island useless as an impasse.
03:46Trump said he wasn't sure if the country had, quote,
03:49the appetite for a land mission in Iran,
03:51despite saying there could be one as he tries to strong-arm Iranian officials
03:55to finalize a memorandum of understanding to end the war.
03:59I mean, I'd like to get a deal now, less than three or four weeks to go,
04:04because, you know, once you do this, you could just go a step further.
04:09But I don't know that America has the appetite
04:12to do what I would really much prefer doing.
04:15I don't know.
04:15I don't know.
04:15I don't know.
Comments