President Donald Trump said Sunday the United States is "locked and loaded" to destroy Iran's Kharg Island oil export hub, but has chosen not to do so.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump referenced previous U.S. strikes on the island, which he described as the country's "crown jewel," leaving only the section that handles oil pipelines intact.
"We can do that on five minutes' notice. We have it all locked and loaded and ready to go if we want to do it," he said. "We chose not to do it. I chose not to do it again. We'll see what happens."
Trump suggested the threat is intended to pressure Iran into talks, saying Tehran wants to "negotiate badly" but is not yet ready to make the concessions the United States expects.
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"I don't think they're ready to do what they have to do. But I think they will be at some point," he told reporters.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an interview with CBS News on Sunday that his country has not asked for a ceasefire or negotiations in the now three-week conflict.
"We are ready to defend ourselves as long as it takes," Araghchi explained. "And this is what we have done so far, and we continue to do that until President Trump comes to the point that this is an illegal war with no victory."
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U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) struck Kharg Island on Friday in a large-scale precision attack as part of Operation Epic Fury.
The strikes hit more than 90 military targets, including naval mine storage facilities and missile bunkers, while leaving the island's oil infrastructure intact, according to CENTCOM.
Axios reported that Trump has discussed the possibility of seizing Kharg outright, which one U.S. official reportedly said would amount to "an economic knockout of the regime" by effectively cutting off a key source of Iran's oil revenue.
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Seizing the island could require deploying U.S. troops and risk Iranian retaliatory strikes on oil infrastructure across the Gulf, especially in Saudi Arabia.
"There are big risks. There are big rewards. The president isn't there yet and we're not saying he will be," the official told Axios.
