Trump renews threats against Iranian energy infrastructure

US President Donald Trump threatened to "obliterate" Iranian infrastructure, including oil wells, power plants and Kharg Island, the country's main export terminal, unless a deal is reached to end the war, via his social media platform TruthSocial on March 30.

Trump, in a TruthSocial post, said the US was in "serious discussions" with a "new and more reasonable regime" in Iran as it pushes to restore trade flows through the Strait of Hormuz after a month of disruption.

"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 desalinization plants!), which we have purposefully not yet 'touched'," Trump said.

His comments follow a previous pledge on March 26 to pause US "energy plant destruction" in Iran for 10 days to allow for talks -- a deadline that was initially March 28.

Iran has consistently denied engaging in talks with US authorities. In a post on X, the country's state TV dismissed Trump's reports of talks as "baseless," while IRNA news quoted the foreign ministry saying no direct discussions had taken place.

A report from Iran's semi-official news service Tasnim said that American bases and interests in the region, including "military, security and economic infrastructure," remained "powerful targets" for new attacks.

In a post on X, Esmail Saghab-Esfahani, vice president and head of Iran's Energy Optimization and Strategic Management Organization, warned the country's regional neighbors "the slightest attack on Iran's energy infrastructure" would "drag you back 100 years."

He singled out key oil export hubs, including Saudi Arabia's Abqaiq and Yanbu on its west coast, as well as the UAE's Fujairah, Habshan and Halul and Kuwait's Burgan, home to one of the world's largest oil fields, as potential targets.

Ongoing missile and drone strikes in the Gulf have continued to stifle trade flows to and from the region, leading energy prices to soar. With an estimated 14 million b/d of crude and oil products now off the market, according to S&P Global Energy CERA analysts, Brent crude futures have hovered in the $100-$110/b range, despite global efforts to mitigate the price shock.

US forces previously struck military targets on Kharg Island, off the coast of Iran, on March 13, but avoided its critical oil infrastructure. Trump has previously called the offshore terminal "Iran's crown jewel," and threatened to follow up with wider attacks if no deal is reached.

Located in the northern Persian Gulf, the island handles the bulk of Iran's crude exports, which before the conflict had averaged about 1.7 million b/d, and were almost exclusively delivered to China. Volumes have since slipped to about 900,000 b/d in March, according to S&P Global Commodities at Sea data.

A research note from ING strategists Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey on March 30 said recent commentary from the Trump administration had failed to soothe markets, noting that "there remains little sign of imminent peace talks".

"Risks were further amplified by the deployment of an additional 3,500 US troops to the region and renewed rhetoric from US President Donald Trump, who said he wants to 'take the oil in Iran' and could seize the export hub of Kharg Island," according to the note.

G7 energy and finance ministers are due to meet virtually on March 30 to discuss their response to the crisis and its economic repercussions, with another collective oil stock release potentially among the response measures to be discussed.