"US President Donald Trump mulled over taking over Iran’s oil-export hub Kharg Island as a way to assert US power in the Gulf and punish the Islamic Republic. The idea came to him nearly 40 years ago.
"I’d be harsh on Iran. They’ve been beating us psychologically, making us look [like] a bunch of fools,” Trump told the Guardian in 1988.
"“One bullet shot at one of our men or ships, and I’d do a number on Kharg Island. I’d go in and take it,” he added.
"The interview is notable now as several news sites have reported US and Israeli discussions about seizing the island, where Iran exports around 90 percent of its crude.
"Axios reported that the US and Israel held discussions about seizing Kharg Island last week.
"The 1988 Guardian interview demonstrates that this idea is not new. In the interview, he also said that "It’d be good for the world to take them (Iran) on".
"Trump’s comments then came against the backdrop of the Iran-Iraq War, a brutal conflict against Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and the Islamic Republic, which saw around 500,000 people killed.
"In the late 1980s, the US Navy escorted vessels through the Strait of Hormuz and attacked Iranian oil installations and mines.
"Trump’s hostility to Iran can be traced back to the Guardian interview.
“Iran can’t even beat Iraq, yet they push the United States around. It’d be good for the world to take them on,” he said." . . .
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