The armed forces of Iran have announced that they will immediately destroy all oil, financial and energy facilities linked to the United States in the Middle East, responding to threats by US President Donald Trump concerning Iran’s oil infrastructure.
In a statement delivered by the spokesperson for the central headquarters of Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, which operates under the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Iranian military said that all oil, economic and energy installations belonging to or cooperating with the United States would be immediately destroyed and turned to “ashes”.
Trump's threats
The announcement came in response to recent remarks by President Donald Trump, who wrote on the platform Truth Social that US forces had destroyed “all military targets” on the island of Kharg Island, a strategic oil hub for Iran. Trump also warned that oil infrastructure there would be destroyed if Iran continued to obstruct navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.
According to Iran’s state news agency Fars News Agency, no oil infrastructure was damaged during the US strikes on Kharg Island.
More than 15 explosions were reported on the island, with thick smoke rising following the US attack on military defences, the naval base of Josen, an airport control tower and a helicopter hangar, according to field sources cited by the agency.
Iran can 'abandon all restraint'
Kharg Island, located in the northern part of the Persian Gulf around 30 kilometres off the Iranian coast, hosts Iran’s largest oil export terminal, through which about 90 per cent of the country’s oil exports pass.
Amid continuing threats between the two countries, the Speaker of the Iranian parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, warned earlier this week that Iran would abandon all restraint if the United States and Israel were to attack Iran’s islands in the Gulf.
He stressed that the country stands ready to defend its territory by all means.