President Donald Trump is refusing to rule out a ground invasion of Iran.
Trump told Fox News on Tuesday that he would consider an invasion if he believed it was “appropriate.”
“Sometimes you need a ground campaign,” Trump told Fox correspondent Trey Yingst, who asked about using ground troops. “But we have other people who will do the ground campaign for us.”
Trump continued, “We already hit Kharg Island, as you know, twice, uh, even three times. I said, ‘Hit everything but the oil. Just leave that little area from 25 yards out. Leave that little area. Don’t touch the oil.’ Because I don’t want that, in terms of the world economy, it’s a—you know—it’s a chunk of the world economy, so we haven’t hit that."
The president also refused to specify whether the U.S. would try to take Kharg Island, saying doing so “would be foolish.”
Yingst pressed Trump on whether his stated objectives for the war, including ensuring Iran’s nuclear compliance, degrading their military, and keeping the Strait of Hormuz open, could be accomplished through an air campaign alone.
“I think they are completed now, honestly,” the president said. “If we left right now, it would take them 20 years to rebuild.”
The U.S. Navy reinstated its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, with Trump announcing on Truth Social that it was “open to ALL Ship traffic except for Iran,” due to their “lying, violent, malicious leadership.”
“We will therefore have a FULL Blockade, but only on Ships coming to and from Iranian ports, or carrying anything have to do with Iranian cargo,” Trump wrote, adding that he would be rescinding the added 20 percent fee on ships he had suggested the day before.
The president did not give a definitive answer as to whether his war with Iran had “resumed,” instead telling Yingst, “you could define it any way you want.” He then said that strikes “will continue until I say it’s enough.”
“But certainly we’re beating them up really badly,” he said. “They have to be beat up. We’re hitting them very, very hard. We’re hitting every single thing that they have along the shore, along the, the waterfront.”
Trump told Yingst that the U.S. plans to target civilian infrastructure in Iran, such as power plants and bridges, despite such strikes being prohibited by international law.
Trump went on to say that Iran “never made a deal with Obama” and that “everything they say is a lie.” In reality, President Barack Obama’s 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action successfully restricted Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
