Trump walks back promise of fresh Iran strikes, invasion of Kharg Island oil stronghold

WASHINGTON (CN) — President Donald Trump on Thursday backed off his threats to strike Iran “very hard” and potentially seize some of the country’s key oil infrastructure, a move that would have come as members of Congress weigh a measure halting his military campaign against the Middle Eastern nation.

Writing in a post on Truth Social, Trump credited his change of heart to ongoing diplomatic discussions with Tehran which he said “have been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved.” The details of the discussions the president said had reached Tehran’s upper echelons were not immediately clear.

Earlier in the morning, Trump issued a separate social media post vowing to hit Iran “VERY HARD” on Thursday night. He also said that U.S. military forces would move to seize Kharg Island — a key oil port off the coast of Iran — and other oil infrastructure “at some point in the not too distant future.” And the president further vowed to take “total control” of Iranian oil and gas markets.

Those threats, however, evaporated completely just hours later.

“Discussions and final points have been, in both concept and detail, approved by all parties involved,” Trump said Thursday afternoon, adding that the U.S. Navy’s ongoing blockade of the Strait of Hormuz would remain in effect until a deal was finalized.

“Time and place of the signing to be announced shortly,” the president concluded.

Tensions between Washington and Tehran ratcheted up again this week after Iranian military forces shot down a U.S. Apache attack helicopter over the Strait of Hormuz. Though the helicopter’s pilots were unharmed, the Trump administration pledged a proportional response, and the U.S. military struck several Iranian air defense and surveillance installations in the region. Iran replied with its own strikes on U.S. bases in Bahrain and Jordan.

But further military action against Iran — especially an attack on Kharg Island, which could potentially require U.S. boots on the ground to take and hold territory — would be a major escalation in hostilities.

And a renewed campaign against Tehran would come after the Trump administration declared the war which began in early March “terminated” ahead of the 60-day deadline for military action laid out in the War Powers Resolution. Under federal law, Congress must issue a declaration of war or authorization of use of military force after that period.

It’s unclear whether the White House would try to reset the war powers clock if it moved to reengage Iran. The House this month approved a resolution demanding the administration cease all hostilities. That measure is currently sitting before the Senate.

Congressional Republicans, however, defended Trump’s new threats on Iran and were mum on whether he should seek congressional authorization to strike the country or invade Kharg Island.

“The president has negotiated a peace, but the Iranians continue to provoke us,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters Thursday morning, pointing to the recent Apache shootdown. “The president felt … that it required a proportional response.”

The top House Republican, who was critical of his colleagues’ war powers resolution, added that lawmakers needed to allow the White House the “space” to pursue its military objectives unchecked.

“We’re about 100 days into this conflict, and Congress has to allow the commander-in-chief to do what he is doing,” Johnson said.

Johnson did not reply to a follow-up question about the need for congressional authorization.

Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, who noted that he hadn’t been briefed on the president’s threats, told reporters that he thought some of Trump’s rhetoric was “directed at Iran” rather than a promise to be taken seriously.

“This story changes so many times — it’s going to change an hour from now,” he said. The Missouri Republican also acknowledged that U.S. boots on the ground in Iran is “always a possibility,” but did not respond to a question from Courthouse News about whether lawmakers needed to approve such a course of action.

Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker, the GOP chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee who has on some occasions been skeptical of the Iran war, declined to comment on Trump’s Kharg island threat. “I’m not giving interviews,” he told reporters outside the Senate chamber.

Democrats, for their part, were intensely critical of the possibility that U.S. forces could resume hostilities against Iran.

Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, told Courthouse News that any attempt to seize Kharg Island would be a “very difficult operation” and that it would require approval from Congress.

And Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin cautioned that it would be difficult to extricate the military from an assault on the Iranian oil stronghold.

“What’s unfortunate is that we’re in another round of military action,” she told Courthouse News, adding that Kharg Island was “important strategic territory.”

“I know that the president spoke directly to the Iranians, which I thought was extremely interesting and usually signals that we’re at the end of a negotiation and sealing the deal, but this seems to be the opposite,” the Michigan Democrat continued. “Taking Kharg Island — it’s easier to get into war than it is to get out. Saying you’re going to take Kharg Island is different than actually being able to do it.”

Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy told reporters that Congress should not move forward with approving the National Defense Authorization Act, the major defense policy measure, until lawmakers vote to authorize war with Iran.

“The NDAA is a war funding bill that is the means by which they are going to pay for this war,” he said. “And if you oppose the war, how do you vote to fund it without a debate on authorization?”

The Senate has yet to hold a vote on the House-passed war powers resolution, which would demand Trump cease all hostilities on Iran. Even if it clears both chambers, though, it’s unclear whether the White House would abide by the congressional decree.

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