Trump says he is considering seizing Iran's Kharg Island

[0:00] hello welcome i'm martine croxall u.s president donald trump says that he could take the oil in [0:06] iran and seek seas carg island the small island off the coast of iran home to a major oil terminal [0:12] that is considered the country's economic lifeline speaking to the financial times mr trump said the [0:17] u.s could take the island very easily well the president's comments come as a further 3 500 [0:24] u.s troops arrived in the middle east as fears grow that further escalation could expose american [0:30] forces to iranian attacks speaking to reporters on board air force one mr trump claimed the u.s [0:37] israel war has already achieved regime change in iran while insisting he would still make a deal [0:43] with tehran i think we'll make a deal with them pretty sure whether it's possible or we won't [0:49] but we've had regime change if you look already because [0:54] the one regime was decimated destroyed they're all dead the next regime is mostly dead [1:01] and the third regime we're dealing with different people than anybody's dealt with before it's a [1:05] whole different group of people so i would consider that regime change and frankly [1:11] they've been very reasonable so i think we've had regime change you can't do much better than that [1:17] well the wall street journal is reporting that president trump is considering a military [1:21] operation aimed at extracting a thousand pounds of uranium from iran the paper cites [1:27] unnamed security officials and says the operation would likely put american forces inside the country [1:33] for days or longer meanwhile israel's prime minister has ordered the military to move [1:38] further into southern lebanon benjamin netanyahu said the expansion of what he called a security [1:44] buffer zone would neutralize the threat from hezbollah joe inward reports for a military that [1:50] the u.s claims to have destroyed iran still seems capable of inflicting damage in the negev desert [1:57] an industrial park burns the result of iranian missile strikes on israel there have been reports [2:05] of thousands of drones and missiles fired across the gulf it has also emerged that a valuable u.s [2:11] spy plane called an awacs was destroyed in a strike on an airbase in saudi arabia this war does not [2:18] feel like it's de-escalating there are reports in the u.s that the use of ground troops is being [2:24] considered thousands of marines are in the region it's been speculated they may attempt to catch a [2:30] karg island where most of iran's oil is exported something the u.s president has not dismissed [2:37] night donald trump told the financial times to be honest with you my favorite thing is to take the [2:42] oil in iran but some stupid people back in the u.s say why are you doing that but those are stupid [2:48] people maybe we take karg island he said maybe we don't we have a lot of options when asked about [2:55] the state of iranian defense on the island he said i don't think they have any defense we could take [3:01] it very easily but that's not an assessment many agree with any operation to put u.s boots on the [3:08] island it's just a matter of time until the war is over and the war is over and the war is over [3:12] and the war is over and the war is over and the war is over and the war is over and the war is over [3:15] aggression and occupation will yield no result other than the humiliating capture dismemberment [3:21] and disappearance of the aggressors american commanders and soldiers will become food for [3:25] the sharks of the persian gulf this is now a multi-front war in lebanon israel has continued [3:33] its offensive the idf released this footage of their operations in the south their target is the [3:40] group hezbollah allies of iran but that seems to include some journalists yesterday the funerals [3:47] of ali schweib fatima fatuni and her brother muhammad took place israel accused schweib who [3:54] worked for a channel aligned with hezbollah of being an intelligence operative without providing [3:59] any evidence the lebanese authorities say more than a thousand civilians have now been killed [4:05] with more than a million forced from their homes there are fears some may not be able to return [4:11] israel's prime minister expanded what he calls a security zone but others will call an occupation [4:21] i said we would change the face of the middle east and we did it [4:25] in lebanon i have instructed the military to expand the existing security strip [4:30] in order to finally thwart the threat of invasion and to keep missile fire away from our borders [4:38] these were the skies over tehran last night iranian air defense [4:42] is still apparently in action iran will know it cannot defeat the us and israel militarily [4:49] but may not need to if it can outlast them joe inwood bbc news let's speak to our correspondent [4:57] james waterhouse and the news james that karg island could be within president trump's sights [5:04] that's right i mean in an interview with the financial times donald trump said that he wants [5:12] to take the oil that some in his words stupid people in the u.s and other countries could take [5:15] in the US say I shouldn't. I think that's a reflection of his ambition. And we are getting [5:21] a flurry of briefings from the US side on what is on the table for the US president. We know [5:29] thousands of US troops are heading there, special forces, paratroopers. These are personnel trained [5:35] in taking territory and trying to keep hold of it. And on paper, it is likely that the US could [5:43] use Karg Island as leverage. It is how Iran exports most of its oil. Because this war for [5:50] the Americans is increasingly becoming about how the Strait of Hormuz is controlled. But it's [5:56] one thing to take this island. It's quite another to keep hold of it. When you consider the threats [6:02] from the Iranians, the fact that the Iranian coastline is extremely mountainous, you would [6:07] imagine US troops would be pretty exposed to counter fire. I'm sure that's [6:13] being planned by the Pentagon on how to counter. But the point is, you've got America plowing more [6:19] into trying to take control of the Strait of Hormuz. And it's not clear just to what extent [6:25] this is trying to position, to posture ahead of an eventual negotiation. But if we look at the [6:34] sort of aerial exchanges at the moment, this is doing little to influence the course of the fighting. [6:39] And describe to us, James, what it was like overnight, [6:44] because you've got the US and the US-Iraqis, the US-Iraqis, the US-Iraqis, the US-Iraqis, [6:44] because there were strikes exchanged from all sides, it seems. [6:51] Yes, I mean, it's becoming part of the daily routine here. You hear air defenses through [6:57] the night. Southern Israel, we understand, has been targeted in the main over the past 12 hours [7:03] or so. But we're also getting reports from the Israeli military that they again have targeted [7:09] electricity stations in Iran, mainly around Tehran, where power outages [7:16] have been reported. And the Israelis really seem to be hardening their position. They've just passed [7:22] a budget which sees a significant increase in its military spending. There are far-right ministers [7:28] who talk about this being a defining moment, how Israel can redraw the Middle East. And that is [7:35] translating into its widening military operations. We're seeing it really push on with its ground [7:42] offensive in Lebanon. And of course, it still seemingly has the munitions, but it's still [7:46] the munitions to strike Iran from afar. [7:49] James, for the moment, thank you very much. James Waterhouse joining us from Jerusalem.