(LEAD) Trump threatens to 'obliterate' Iran's Kharg Island, power plants if deal is not 'shortly' reached

▲ This photo, released by the Associated Press, shows U.S. President Donald Trump speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One en route from West Palm Beach, Florida, to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on March 29, 2026. (Yonhap)

▲ This photo, released by Reuters, shows U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio meeting the press at Bourget airport in Le Bourget, outside Paris, on March 27, 2026. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

(LEAD) Trump-Iran war

(LEAD) Trump threatens to 'obliterate' Iran's Kharg Island, power plants if deal is not 'shortly' reached

(ATTN: ADDS photo, Rubio's remarks in paras 8-15)

By Song Sang-ho

WASHINGTON, March 30 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Donald Trump threatened Monday to "completely obliterate" Iran's Kharg Island, a key oil hub, its power plants and oil wells if a peace deal with the United States is not "shortly" reached.

Trump made the remarks in a social media post amid growing fears of a prolonged war between the U.S., Israel and Iran, and the conflict's impact on oil prices and inflation -- key issues that could affect voter sentiment ahead of the U.S. midterm elections in November.

"The United States of America is in serious discussions with A NEW, AND MORE REASONABLE, REGIME to end our Military Operations in Iran," Trump wrote on Truth Social, claiming that "great progress has been made in the negotiations."

"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, which we have purposefully not yet 'touched.'"

He said targets would possibly include all desalinization plants in Iran.

He went on to say that the strikes, if pressed ahead, will be "in retribution for" many U.S. soldiers and others that he accused Iran of having killed over the "old regime's 47-year reign of terror."

On Thursday, Trump extended his pause on U.S. military strikes on Iran's energy infrastructure by 10 days to 8 p.m. on April 6 (Washington time) to secure more time for negotiations.

Trump's latest threat to strike Iran's energy infrastructure came amid reports that the U.S. has sent thousands of additional troops to the Middle East to provide Trump with more wartime options as his administration has ratcheted up pressure on Tehran to accept its 15-point proposal to end the war.

In an ABC interview released Monday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Trump "always prefers" diplomacy, despite the arrival of additional American troops in the region.

"We always prefer to settle things through negotiation and diplomacy," the secretary said, according to a transcript released by the State Department.

"But we also have to be prepared for the fact that that effort might fail, that we are dealing with a 47-year-old regime that still has a lot of people involved in it who aren't necessarily big fans of diplomacy or peace," he added.

He said the "clerical regime" in the Islamic Republic is the "problem."

"If there are new people now in charge who have a more reasonable vision of the future, that would be good news for us, for them, for the entire world," he said. "But we also have to be prepared for the possibility, maybe even the probability, that that is not the case."

He also criticized leaders of the theocratic regime as "religious zealots who can never be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon."

"Because they have an apocalyptic vision of the future," he said.

(END)

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