US President Donald Trump has threatened to launch major strikes against Iran today and take control of key parts of the country’s oil and gas industry, as escalating hostilities between the two nations raise fears of a wider conflict in West Asia. In a post on social media, Trump said, the United States would hit Iran very hard tonight and would assume total control of Iran’s oil and gas markets, including the strategically important Kharg Island oil terminal. He compared the proposed move to what he described as the US takeover of Venezuela’s oil sector after capturing then-president Nicolás Maduro in January. The remarks came as the United States and Iran exchanged attacks for a second consecutive day. The latest US strikes, which continued into this morning in Iran, appeared more intense than those carried out a day earlier.
Meanwhile, Iran said, it had retaliated by launching attacks against targets in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan.
