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Iran: Reaction over Kharg Island
Meanwhile, Iranian politicians reacted sharply to Trump’s threat to attack Kharg Island, a critical hub for Iran’s oil exports. Ebrahim Rezaei, spokesperson for Iran’s Parliamentary Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy, posted on X: “Come, we are waiting for you, and we promise that not a single American soldier will return alive.”
Ali Akbar Velayati, Iran’s former Foreign Minister, condemned the “latest escalation,” stating on X that Iran had “previously warned that ‘the region is not a playground for the political games of small countries,'” adding that Iran “has its finger on the trigger.” On the afternoon of Wednesday, July 8, Donald Trump announced further measures against Iran, once again threatening to target critical infrastructure. “There could be a very big attack, and it will destroy a lot of things,” Trump warned during a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the NATO summit.
Trump specifically referenced Iran’s power generation facilities: “We will destroy them. I don’t want to do that, but if we have to, we will take them out.” He also mentioned desalination plants, which are essential for providing drinking water. “We will hit them if we have to. I don’t like doing that. That’s probably the last thing I would want to do,” he noted.
The U.S. President also referred to Kharg Island, a key node for Iran’s oil exports. “We attacked Kharg Island last night, we destroyed part of it. I said: ‘Don’t touch the oil, because we might just take Kharg Island,'” Trump stated, recounting what he told U.S. armed forces. “I said: ‘Don’t hit the pipelines, just hit everything else.’ And they hit it. They may hit it again tonight.”
