President Donald Trump posted on social media that U.S. forces struck “many long sought after targets” in Iran on Sunday.
“Big day in Iran. Many long sought after targets have been taken out and destroyed by our GREAT MILITARY, the finest and most lethal in the World,” Trump wrote.
He also told the Financial Times the U.S. has about “3,000 targets left — we’ve bombed 13,000 targets.”
Trump suggested to the FT he is considering a ground operation in Iran, possibly aimed at Kharg Island, the country’s oil export terminal in the northern Persian Gulf. “We could very easily take the island,” he said. “Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don’t. We have a lot of options,” adding such an operation “would mean we had to be there for a while.”
He also told the FT, “To be honest with you, my favourite thing is to take the oil in Iran but some stupid people back in the U.S. say: ‘Why are you doing that?’ But they’re stupid people.”
U.S. officials are reportedly weighing a ground operation to protect the strategic Strait of Hormuz, where commercial shipping has faced Iranian harassment and tolls since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Feb. 28.
On Air Force One, Trump said Iran had permitted 10 oil tankers to transit the Strait and that another 20 would follow soon. He told the FT he believed Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf “authorized the ships” to pass safely.
Trump again speculated about Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who succeeded Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after the elder Khamenei was killed in U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Feb. 28. “The son is either dead or in extremely bad shape,” Trump said. “We’ve not heard from him at all. He’s gone.” Mojtaba Khamenei’s absence has fueled reports he was badly injured, though Tehran insists he is alive and safe.
-ABC News’ Meg Mistry and Emily Chang