(Staff post from THE ABC NEWS AUS on 31 March 2026.)
Trump
threatens to 'obliterate' Iranian oil and energy sites if it refuses deal to
end war: Donald Trump is threatening to obliterate Kharg Island, which is
responsible for 90 per cent of Iran's oil production.
Donald
Trump is threatening to obliterate Iran's energy plants and oil wells if it
does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The US president posted on his platform
Truth Social that the United States would be "blowing up" Iran's
strategically important Kharg Island if the nation's leaders refused to make a
deal.
He went on to write that the US was in "serious discussions" with a "NEW, AND MORE REASONABLE, REGIME" to end the war. "Great progress has been made but, if for any reason a deal is not shortly reached, which it probably will be, and if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately "Open for Business," we will conclude our lovely "stay" in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!), which we have purposefully not yet "touched"," he said.
The
White House later pointed to an April 6 deadline for Tehran. Mr Trump's remarks
came shortly after Iran described US peace proposals as
"unrealistic". Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei
said it had received US peace proposals via intermediaries, following talks on
Sunday between the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and
Türkiye.
But
he said the American proposals were "unrealistic, illogical and
excessive". "Our position is clear. We are under military aggression.
Therefore, all our efforts and strength are focused on defending
ourselves," he told a press conference.
The
war of words between the Islamic regime and the US president came as thousands
of US soldiers arrived in the Middle East, according to two US officials quoted
by news agency Reuters. Those troops were in addition to 2,500 US marines who
arrived in the Middle East over the weekend.
No decision had been made to send troops into Iran, but they would build up capacity for potential future operations in the region, one of the sources said. The soldiers could be used for several purposes in the Iran war, including an attempt to seize Kharg Island, the hub for 90 per cent of Iran's oil exports.
Meanwhile,
Israel's military said two drones from Yemen had also been intercepted on
Monday, two days after the Iran-aligned Houthis entered the war by firing
missiles at Israel, and that Lebanon's Hezbollah had fired rockets at Israel.
Israeli
forces carried out missile strikes on what they called military infrastructure
in Tehran and infrastructure used by Iran-backed Hezbollah in Beirut, leaving
black smoke hanging over the Lebanese capital.
Türkiye's
defence ministry said a ballistic missile launched from Iran entered Turkish
airspace before being shot down by NATO air and missile defences deployed in
the eastern Mediterranean, the fourth such incident since the start of the war.