President Trump said talks with Iran were progressing and that, “out of a sign of respect,” Tehran would allow 20 oil tankers to transit the Strait of Hormuz on Monday. But speaking to reporters on Air Force One Sunday night, he added that while the U.S. negotiates, force remains an option — saying, in his words, that sometimes “you always have to blow them up.”
In an interview with the Financial Times published Monday, Trump went further, saying the U.S. could “take the oil in Iran” and that he was weighing a move to seize the Kharg Island oil terminal. “Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don’t. We have a lot of options,” he told the paper, adding that occupying the terminal would require a sustained presence.
Day 31 of the Iran conflict — key developments:
Regime change
On Air Force One en route to Joint Base Andrews, Trump said the U.S.-Israeli campaign had produced what he described as regime change in Iran, claiming senior officials had been killed during the fighting. He specifically referenced Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei, saying he had been replaced earlier in the month by his son, Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen publicly and is widely believed to continue the country’s hardline theocratic direction.
Outrage over patriarch access
Security restrictions tied to the war intersected with religious sensitivities when Israeli police prevented the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to hold private Palm Sunday prayers, citing limits on gatherings in the Old City. Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa and another church leader were stopped from entering amid a general cap of 50 people on public gatherings because of the conflict and threats of Iranian missile attacks. The decision drew criticism from world leaders and the pope; U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee also protested. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later said the Cardinal would be granted full and immediate access.
Strikes and counterstrikes
Despite Trump’s comments about negotiations, fighting continued across multiple fronts. The Israel Defense Forces said it struck weapons-production facilities in Tehran overnight, including a site used to assemble long-range anti-aircraft missiles, and kept up bombing in southern Beirut suburbs as part of its Lebanon campaign. Hezbollah reported firing rockets at bases in northern Israel and at Israeli forces in southern Lebanon. The IDF also said two soldiers were seriously wounded by anti-tank fire in southern Lebanon; those casualties followed the death of a Connecticut-born Israeli soldier in the same area the previous day.
Israel said it had struck roughly 140 targets in Iran over the weekend. Iran reported that some strikes hit university facilities and has threatened to target U.S. campuses in the Middle East in retaliation. Russia’s state nuclear company Rosatom warned that attacks were worsening conditions at Iran’s Bushehr nuclear plant, which it helped construct and which has sustained multiple strikes during the conflict. Separately, the International Atomic Energy Agency said bombardment had put Iran’s heavy water production plant at Khondab out of operation — satellite analysis showed severe damage and no declared nuclear material at the site.
Iran retaliated over the weekend, targeting an industrial zone in southern Israel and sparking a fire at a chemical plant that raised fears of hazardous leaks. Iranian forces also struck a power and desalination facility in Kuwait overnight, killing a worker from India, Kuwait’s water and electricity ministry said. Desalination plants provide crucial drinking water across Gulf states. After Israeli strikes reportedly damaged two of Iran’s largest steel plants, Iran struck aluminum factories in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain; Emirates Global Aluminum said its Abu Dhabi plant suffered significant damage.
Oil, markets and policy responses
Markets reacted sharply to Trump’s comments about seizing Iranian oil and Kharg Island. Benchmark oil jumped to about $116 a barrel on Monday, with Brent crude up more than 50% since the start of March — a surge exceeding the monthly spike seen during Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Asian stock markets fell on the price shock.
In London, Prime Minister Keir Starmer held talks with energy industry leaders including BP and Shell, while Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to press for accelerated clean-energy measures to blunt exposure to global energy shocks. In Australia, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced a temporary reduction in fuel and diesel taxes for at least four months to relieve consumer pressure.
Attacks on infrastructure
Iran said its national electricity grid remained broadly stable after weekend strikes that caused localized outages. State media reported shrapnel from strikes damaged power equipment in Tehran and nearby Karaj, producing short-term blackouts. The IAEA’s assessment that the Khondab heavy water plant is nonoperational and Russia’s warnings about Bushehr underscore concerns about damage to critical nuclear and industrial infrastructure. Authorities across the region reported damage to water and industrial facilities as cross-border strikes targeted essential systems.
Reporting contributors: Carrie Kahn in Jerusalem, Emily Feng in Van, Turkey, Aya Batrawy in Dubai, and Kate Bartlett in Johannesburg.