Trump Says U.S. Will Hit Iran Tonight, Plans to Take Key Oil Hub Kharg Island
President says U.S. will assume control of Tehran’s energy markets
Updated June 11, 2026 9:37 am ET The Wall Street Journal
President Trump threatened to strike Iran “VERY HARD” again Thursday night and take “total control” of the country’s oil and gas markets, a sign that he has abandoned the diplomatic route and is aiming to force Tehran into a nuclear deal it has resisted for months.
The U.S. “in the not too distant future” would be taking Kharg Island, which sits off Iran’s southern coast and is the country’s main oil export hub, Trump added in the Truth Social post, “and assume total control of their Oil and Gas Markets, much like we have with Venezuela, which is working out brilliantly for both Venezuela and the United States of America.”
Trump’s threat came after a fresh wave of U.S. strikes against Iran on targets near the Strait of Hormuz, following weeks of impasse in negotiations to end the war. Iran said it struck back by targeting U.S. military facilities in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan, raising the risk that a tenuous ceasefire will spiral into a full-fledged military conflict once again.
Seizing Kharg Island, which handles roughly 90% of Iran’s oil exports, would be a significant escalation of the conflict and would likely require ground troops.
Trump’s apparent decision to go all in on military pressure would mark his third shift in strategy toward Iran.
The war began in February with Israeli-led, U.S.-backed decapitation strikes and calls from both administrations for Iranians to overthrow the regime, in the hope that a new leadership would comply with Washington’s nuclear demands. Then, after a ceasefire in April, he pivoted to trying to squeeze Iran’s economy with sanctions and a blockade until it would have no choice but to dismantle its nuclear work and dispose of its enriched uranium.
Now, Trump is using a far blunter instrument: brute military power to force Iran into submission. But Iran, which has strong reservations about the terms offered by the U.S., may once again absorb the pressure instead of folding, which would see Trump wade deeper into a Middle East war without guarantees of success.
Trump has relied almost exclusively on airstrikes during the conflict, except for putting troops inside Iran to rescue a downed pilot. But the Kharg operation would likely be the riskiest of the war, now in its fourth month.
The U.S. first bombed Kharg Island in March, hitting military targets surrounding the island’s oil infrastructure. Trump at the time said he chose not to “wipe out” the island’s energy terminals but said he would reconsider that threat if Iran kept the Strait of Hormuz closed. In the ensuing months, Iran has maintained a sweeping blockade of most energy shipments out of the strait, roiling global energy markets and ratcheting up pressure on Trump to come to a deal with Tehran.
The U.S. countered with a naval blockade on Iranian oil shipments to choke off the Iranian government’s main source of revenue. At the same time, it has quietly continued guiding commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, using jet fighters and helicopters to defend ships against Iranian missiles and drones, U.S. officials acknowledged this week.
U.S. military forces have carried out multiple waves of airstrikes in the past few days after an Iranian drone downed a U.S. Apache helicopter near the strait, targeting air defenses, ground-control stations and radar sites near the strategic waterway. But the U.S. has avoided hitting Iran’s infrastructure in recent days, U.S. officials said.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned the U.S. strikes during a phone call with European Union foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas, calling them a “clear violation” of international law and saying they would render the current ceasefire ineffective, according to Iran’s foreign ministry.
Gulf nations that host U.S. facilities came under fire overnight. Kuwait and Jordan said their air defenses had dealt with dozens of missiles fired overnight by Iran, and state media in Bahrain shared images of damage done to buildings and cars. Iran said countries that allowed strikes to take place from their territory would be considered aggressors.
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