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US President Donald Trump threatened on Monday to destroy Iran’s oil export hub of Kharg Island and other oil wells and power plants if it does not agree to a deal to end the war soon.

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Trump wrote on his Truth Social network that the United States is in “serious discussions” with “a more reasonable regime” in Tehran.

“Great progress has been made but, if for any reason a deal is not shortly reached, which it probably will be, and if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately ‘open for business,’ we will conclude our lovely ‘stay’ in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their electric generating plants, oil wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinisation plants), which we have purposefully not yet ‘touched,'” Trump said.

Kharg Island, 24 kilometres off the coast of Iran in the northern Persian Gulf, is central to the country’s oil exports and economy.

Any attack on its energy infrastructure could also have serious consequences for global oil markets that have already been pushed to the brink.

About 90% of Iran’s crude oil exports leave the country via the island, much of it destined for China and other Asian markets.

Kharg Island is relatively small — about 8 kilometres long and 4–5 kilometres wide — but it hosts extensive infrastructure, including storage tanks, pipelines and offshore loading terminals.

The island’s terminals can load roughly 1.3–1.6 million barrels of crude per day, helped by deep-water access that allows very large crude carriers to dock.

Trump’s social media post comes after he said in an interview with the Financial Times on Sunday that he wanted to take Iran’s oil and suggested US troops could seize and control the Kharg export hub.

In the interview, Trump said his preference would be to “take the oil in Iran,” a move that would require seizing Kharg.

“Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don’t,” he continued. “We have a lot of options.”

Also in the interview, Trump said that the US had about 3,000 targets that it would still like to hit in Iran, but added that “a deal could be made fairly quickly.”

Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One late on Sunday that the US was negotiating “directly and indirectly” with Iran.

“We’re doing extremely well in that negotiation but you never know with Iran because we negotiate with them and then we always have to blow them up,” Trump said.

Mixed messages

Trump’s comments remain at odds with Tehran, which has repeatedly denied that direct negotiations are taking place.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei acknowledged on Monday that Tehran had been given a 15-point proposal from the Trump administration, but said there had been no direct negotiations with Washington so far.

Earlier, Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf dismissed the talks in Pakistan as a cover to get more US troops into the area.

He said Iranian forces were “waiting for the arrival of American troops on the ground to set them on fire and punish their regional partners forever,” according to state media.

The US already launched airstrikes once that targeted military positions on Kharg. Iran has threatened to launch its own ground invasion of Gulf countries and mine the Persian Gulf if US troops land on its territory.

To get an amphibious invasion force to Kharg would mean transiting the Strait of Hormuz and most of the Persian Gulf.

Experts say that holding the island would also be a challenge, because in addition to its missiles and drones, it would be well within artillery range from the Iranian mainland.

Additional sources • AP, AFP

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A 13-year-old Melbourne girl has been charged with 52 offences including allegedly shouting antisemitic remarks, throwing eggs and swerving a stolen car towards members of the Jewish community.

Victorian police said in a statement on Tuesday that the girl and two other girls were alleged to have been seen driving the stolen black Hyundai sedan in the south-eastern suburbs of Hampton, Ripponlea and Caulfield over multiple days last week.

Police alleged that on 25 March, the girls shouted “offensive, antisemitic remarks” and threw eggs at pedestrians.

Three days later, the car, allegedly driven by the 13-year-old, swerved towards Jewish families in Ripponlea about 7pm, police said, as the group crossed the road at the intersection of Hotham Street and Glen Eira Road.

They “narrowly escaped being struck by the car”, police said.

“There were no physical injuries and the car, which was allegedly stolen from a gym in Caulfield, fled the scene.

“Police will allege the driver, a 13-year-old girl from the Bayside area, was also involved in several other incidents involving erratic driving in stolen cars.”

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On Monday night, police responded to an alleged hit-and-run in Brighton.

It is alleged a male cyclist was travelling along St Kilda Street when an occupant of a stolen silver SUV attempted to hit the bike with the passenger door about 6.50pm.

The driver of the SUV then allegedly crashed into the rear of the bike.

The cyclist, a 45-year-old Brighton man, was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said, and the driver fled the scene.

Just after midnight on Tuesday morning, police said teenagers travelling in a stolen white Volkswagen Golf rammed an e-scooter with two people on board in Elwood.

“Both riders fell from the e-scooter as it crashed into a parked vehicle. They did not require medical attention,” police said.

“One of the victims and a passerby began filming the offending vehicle, before one of the teenagers allegedly threatened them.”

Police spotted the van that was allegedly involved in the crash a short time later.

Police said the driver allegedly travelled across a footpath and “took off at speed” on the Nepean Highway, before travelling on the Dingley Bypass, the EastLink, Princes Highway and the Monash Freeway.

“Police successfully deployed stop sticks on Dandenong Road in East Malvern, before the car came to a stop on Waverley Road,” police said.

“The three female occupants were arrested at the scene and taken into custody.”

The 13-year-old girl from the Bayside area was charged with 52 offences including reckless conduct endangering serious injury, multiple counts of theft, multiple counts of theft of motor vehicle, burglary, handling stolen goods and “threatening physical harm or property damage on ground of a protected attribute”.

She was remanded to appear at a children’s court.

Another 13-year-old girl and a 16-year-old girl, both from the Cardinia area, were also arrested.

They were charged with theft of motor vehicle and handling stolen goods and were bailed to appear at a children’s court at a later date.

“Investigations into the series of incidents remains ongoing,” police said.

“There is absolutely no place at all in our society for hate-based behaviour and such activity will not be tolerated.”

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