By Lara Seligman, Robbie Gramer and Michael R. Gordon
President Trump said he has cancelled planned strikes on Iran after Tehran's leadership and other parties negotiating a deal to end the conflict approved "discussions and final points."
The ongoing discussions "have been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved," Trump wrote in a Thursday afternoon post on X, hours after threatening to strike Iran "VERY HARD."
"Discussions and final points have been, in both concept and great detail, approved by all parties involved," Trump said.
The U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports will remain in effect until the "transaction" is finalized, Trump said, noting that "time and place of the signing" would soon be announced.
Trump had earlier threatened to strike Iran "VERY HARD" again Thursday night and take "total control" of the country's oil and gas industry, a sign that he has abandoned the diplomatic route and is aiming to force Tehran into a nuclear deal it has resisted for months.
The U.S. "in the not too distant future" would take Kharg Island, which sits off Iran's southern coast and is the country's main oil export hub, Trump added in a Truth Social post, "and assume total control of their Oil and Gas Markets, much like we have with Venezuela, which is working out brilliantly for both Venezuela and the United States of America."
Trump also told Fox News in an interview Thursday morning that the U.S. could make a fortune by taking Kharg Island and controlling Iranian oil sales as it has with Venezuela's, but that Americans probably don't have the appetite for such a military operation and would rather see U.S. soldiers brought home.
"My preference has always been take Kharg Island," Trump said in the interview. "I don't know that America has the stomach for it."
Trump's earlier threat came after a fresh wave of U.S. strikes against Iran on targets near the Strait of Hormuz, following weeks of impasse in negotiations to end the war. Iran said it struck back by targeting U.S. military facilities in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan, raising the risk that a tenuous ceasefire will spiral into a full-fledged military conflict once again.
Seizing Kharg Island, which handles roughly 90% of Iran's oil exports, would be a significant escalation of the conflict and would likely require ground troops. Thousands of Marines in the U.S. Central Command are currently aboard four Marine warships from the 31st and the 11th Marine Expeditionary Units, according to U.S. officials.
Trump has relied almost exclusively on airstrikes during the Iran war, except for putting troops inside Iran to rescue a downed pilot. A Kharg operation would likely be the riskiest of the war, which has now lasted more than three months.
Trump's apparent decision to go all in on military pressure would mark his third shift in strategy toward Iran.
A battle for Kharg Island would be complex and dangerous, risking significant American casualties. Just reaching the island, which sits just 16 miles from Iran's southern coast in the Persian Gulf, would be difficult. U.S. ships would have to pass through the strait's narrow, shallow waters and sail around Iran's southern coast, while fending off Iranian missiles, drones and fast boats and navigating sea mines. Alternatively, troops could be airlifted from friendly Gulf nations such as Kuwait.
Once on the ground, American forces would need robust air defenses to fend off an array of threats, from Iranian cruise and ballistic missiles and drones launched from boats or from the shoreline. The operation would likely require interceptor-equipped destroyers in the immediate area or sustained air cover.
A force of just a few thousand troops would likely be insufficient to hold any location for an extended period. During the invasion of Iraq in 2003, two Army and Marine U.S. divisions were used to take Baghdad -- formations that generally run between 15,000 and 20,000 troops each.
The war began in February with Israeli-led, U.S.-backed decapitation strikes and calls from both administrations for Iranians to overthrow the regime, in the hope that a new leadership would comply with Washington's nuclear demands. Then, after a ceasefire in April, Trump pivoted to squeezing Iran's economy through sanctions and a blockade, until it would have no choice but to dismantle its nuclear work and dispose of its enriched uranium.
Now, Trump appears to be relying on a far blunter instrument: raw military pressure to compel Iran into submission. But Tehran, which remains skeptical of the terms on offer from Washington, may once again absorb the pressure rather than capitulate. If so, Trump risks becoming further entangled in a widening Middle East conflict without any guarantee that escalation will deliver a decisive outcome.
The U.S. first bombed Kharg Island in March, hitting military targets surrounding the island's oil infrastructure. Trump at the time said he chose not to "wipe out" the island's energy terminals but said he would reconsider that threat if Iran kept the Strait of Hormuz closed. In the ensuing months, Iran has maintained a sweeping blockade of most energy shipments out of the strait, roiling global energy markets and ratcheting up pressure on Trump.
The U.S. countered with a naval blockade on Iranian oil shipments to choke off the Iranian government's main source of revenue. At the same time, it has quietly continued guiding some commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, using jet fighters and helicopters to defend ships against Iranian missiles and drones, U.S. officials said this week.
U.S. military forces have carried out multiple waves of airstrikes in the past few days after an Iranian drone downed a U.S. Apache helicopter near the strait, targeting air defenses, ground-control stations and radar sites near the strategic waterway. But the U.S. has avoided hitting Iran's infrastructure in recent days, U.S. officials said.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned the U.S. strikes during a phone call with European Union foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas, calling them a "clear violation" of international law and saying they would render the current ceasefire ineffective, according to Iran's foreign ministry.
Gulf nations that host U.S. facilities came under fire overnight. Kuwait and Jordan said their air defenses had dealt with dozens of missiles fired by Iran, and state media in Bahrain shared images of damage done to buildings and cars. Iran said countries that allowed strikes to take place from their territory would be considered aggressors.
Write to Lara Seligman at lara.seligman@wsj.com, Robbie Gramer at robbie.gramer@wsj.com and Michael R. Gordon at michael.gordon@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 11, 2026 13:42 ET (17:42 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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