US PRESIDENT Donald Trump openly mused about seizing Iran’s Kharg Island oil terminal in the Persian Gulf and the United States and Israel kept up their attacks on Monday on the Islamic Republic, even as there were signs of progress in nascent ceasefire talks. He also threatened widespread destruction of Iran’s energy resources and other vital infrastructure, including desalination plants, if a deal to end the war is not reached ‘shortly’. Tehran, meanwhile, attacked a key water and electrical plant in Kuwait, part of its campaign targeting the Gulf Arab States, and an oil refinery in northern Israel. As a diplomatic effort being facilitated by Pakistan toward ending the war moved ahead, President Trump said Iran had agreed to allow 20 oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz starting Monday as “a sign of respect.” At the same time, with 2,500 US Marines now in the region and a similarly sized contingent on its way, he raised the idea of taking Iran’s Kharg Island. “Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don’t,” he told the ‘Financial Times’ in an interview published early Monday. “We have a lot of options.” Trump says diplomatic approach is going well, but suggests military expansion is possible: Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One late Sunday that the US was negotiating “directly and indirectly” with Iran, though Iran has insisted that it has not been in any talks with Washington.

 

“We’re doing extremely well in that negotiation, but you never know with Iran because we negotiate with them and then we always have to blow them up,” Trump said. In the interview with the ‘Financial Times’, Trump suggested it could mean a longer-term commitment if the US decided to try and take Kharg Island, saying, “it would mean we had to be there for a while.” “I don’t think they have any defence,” he added. “We could take it very easily.” The US already launched airstrikes once that targeted military positions on the island. Iran has threatened to launch its own ground invasion of Gulf Arab countries and mine the Persian Gulf if US troops land on its territory. Petrochemical facility struck in northern Iran: Israel’s military launched a new wave of attacks on Iran, saying it was striking “military infrastructure” across Tehran, and explosions were heard in the Iranian capital. Iranian state media reported a petrochemicals plant in Tabriz, in the north, sustained damage after an airstrike and firefighters had to put out a blaze. They said no hazardous materials had been released.

 

The company takes oil or natural gas and processes them into chemical products used to make everyday materials like plastics and chemicals. Oil prices rise again as concerns of a global energy crisis grow: Iran’s attacks on the energy infrastructure of the region and its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil is shipped in peacetime, have sent oil prices skyrocketing and given rise to growing concerns about a global energy crisis. In early trading, the spot price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, was around USD 115, up nearly 60 per cent from when the US and Israel started the war with attacks on Iran on Feb. 28. Death toll climbs: In Lebanon, officials said more than 1,200 people have been killed, and more than 1 million have been displaced. Five Israeli soldiers have also lost their lives. In Iran, authorities say more than 1,900 people have been killed, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel. In Iraq, where Iranian-supported militia groups have entered the conflict, 80 members of the security forces have died. In the Gulf states, 20 people have been killed. Four have been killed in the occupied West Bank.