Iran dismisses Trump's post of attack on key energy hub of Kharg
Iran responded to an earlier US attack on rocket launchers on its island of Larak, about 660km east of Kharg, with an assault on two US bases in Jordan, Iranian media said.
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WASHINGTON: An Iranian official dismissed as "laughable" on Monday (Aug 31) a post by United States President Donald Trump of an AI-generated video clip that he said showed Iran's oil hub Kharg Island being "blown to smithereens".
Hours after Sunday's post, there was no evidence Kharg had been attacked. The White House and the US Defense Department did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment outside regular business hours.
Trump's post came shortly after the US and Iran resumed hostilities for the first time since late July, further denting hopes for any early resolution of a conflict now in its sixth month and driving oil prices nearly 2 per cent higher on Monday.
US forces on Sunday struck two Iranian launchers on Iran's Larak Island, some 660km east of Kharg, a US official said, prompting Iran to retaliate by attacking two US bases in Jordan, according to Iranian media.
"Kharg Island being blown to smithereens!!! President DJT," Trump said on social media, but gave no further details.
Reuters confirmed that an accompanying video clip showing dramatic explosions was most likely synthetically generated, using software that detects AI-manipulated imagery.
"Trump’s tweets are laughable and conditions in Kharg are calm and appropriate," Hamid Bovard, chief executive of government-run National Iranian Oil Co, said on Monday.
Oil operations have not stopped, and workers were busy repairing previous damage and modernising facilities, he added in comments cited by Nournews, a semi-official outlet close to Iran's top security body.
IRAN VOWS TO RESPOND TO ANY ATTACKS
Kharg handled 90 per cent of Iran's oil exports before the war launched by US and Israeli attacks on Feb 28, and attacking it would severely disrupt energy trade and put huge pressure on the economy.
Iran was not seeking war but would respond decisively to any aggression, President Masoud Pezeshkian said.
"We will never remain silent in the face of any aggression and will respond decisively to the aggressors," state media quoted him as saying on Monday ahead of a visit to Kyrgyzstan.
It was not clear if he was speaking before or after Trump's post on Kharg Island.
A US official said forces had attacked the Iranian launchers on Larak Island on Sunday after "Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forces were observed preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz".
Larak is a small island in the strait near the strategic Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. The strait, which normally handles a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas shipments, has been effectively blocked since the start of the war.
In a statement, the US Central Command said it took "limited, precise" action against IRGC minelaying forces that posed an "imminent threat" in the strait. It gave no details.
In retaliation, as well as attacking the US bases in Jordan, Iran's army said it had also struck the Al Minhad air base in the United Arab Emirates early on Monday. However, the UAE's defence ministry dismissed that report as false.
The UAE defence ministry later said its air force engaged a drone that had come from Iran over its territorial waters. It provided no further details, including whether it was shot down.
The Jordan strikes targeted US bases used to launch and support the attack on Larak, Iran's foreign ministry said in a statement.
The IRGC used air defence missiles to shoot down a US drone that crashed in Gulf waters, the Mehr news agency said on Monday, citing a statement from the elite force.
A supertanker caught fire and was brought to a complete halt after being struck by two naval mines in the southern Strait of Hormuz, Iran state TV said, citing an IRGC statement.
UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash said Iran's policy of targeting Gulf Arab states and Jordan had failed.
"A state of neither war nor peace cannot be a sustainable solution," Gargash said in a post on X, adding that realistic political solutions should begin with de-escalation and the restoration of normal shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
PILING ECONOMIC PRESSURE ON IRAN
Trump has yet to achieve the objectives he set out at the start of the war: dismantling Iran's nuclear programme, curbing its ability to attack regional rivals and creating conditions for Iranians to overthrow their clerical rulers.
Sunday's return to hostilities followed weeks in which the Trump administration has stepped up efforts to punish Tehran and its business partners with costly economic sanctions, shifting away from military options.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Reuters on Sunday that new secondary sanctions were likely to be unveiled weekly in the effort to pressure Iran, with an initial focus on banks.
Amid threats to shipping, the number of visible commodity vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz dropped to five a day over the weekend, shipping data showed.
The actual number could be higher as some vessels have switched off automatic identification systems to evade attacks.
The IRGC said the supertanker on fire after being hit by mines had been attempting to pass through the waterway illegally, but gave no details of the vessel or crew, according to a statement cited by state television.
Last week, Trump said all mines had been detonated or removed from the international waters of the strait, and Iran had been warned that any vessel placing new mines would be destroyed.
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