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US president says he would like to take control of Iranian oil

President Donald Trump has told the Financial Times he would prefer the US to take control of Iran's oil, specifically mentioning Kharg Island, a key export hub. The statement has drawn criticism from experts who call it a violation of international law, while the ongoing conflict continues to disrupt global energy supplies.

By Tertius News AI Desk 2 outlets · 2 articles Version 1 Coverage Mar 30 – Apr 1, 2026 Published Aug 13

Coverage Comparison

US President Donald Trump has said he would like the United States to take control of Iran's oil, according to interviews and comments reported by multiple outlets. In an interview with the Financial Times published on Sunday, Trump stated that his "preference would be to take the oil" and added, "To be honest with you, my favorite thing is to take the oil in Iran but some stupid people back in the US say: 'why are you doing that?' But they're stupid people." This was reported by both The Guardian and TASS, though The Guardian provided additional context and analysis.

Earlier, at a Cabinet meeting on March 26, Trump said that taking control of Iranian oil was "an option," as reported by TASS.

Key Claims

The central claim is that Trump wants US forces to seize Kharg Island, a five-mile strip through which about 90% of Iran's oil is exported, according to The Guardian. The Guardian also reports that Iran has effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz to most commercial traffic following the outbreak of war in late February. These claims are not independently verified by other sources in the provided coverage.

The Guardian quotes experts who criticize Trump's statement as a disregard for international law. Patrick Bigger, co-director of the Transition Security Project, called it "a real 'might-makes-right' logic that is both abhorrent and spectacularly miscalculated." Amir Handjani, an energy lawyer and resident fellow at the Quincy Institute, said the statement "completely discredited" Trump's war on Iran. These expert opinions are only reported by The Guardian, and TASS does not include them.

Perspectives

The Guardian's coverage frames Trump's remarks as part of a broader pattern of "fossil-fuel imperialism," emphasizing the potential illegality and strategic miscalculation. The article also notes that on Monday Trump threatened to "blow up and completely obliterate" Iran's energy infrastructure if the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened and a peace deal is not reached shortly. It mentions that Iran attacked a fully loaded crude oil tanker at Dubai port on Monday, and that the conflict has killed thousands of people and disrupted global energy supplies.

TASS's coverage is neutral and focuses solely on Trump's statements, providing direct quotes without additional analysis or context. This reflects the agency's role as a Russian state news outlet, often relaying official statements without editorializing.

The conflict, which began in late February, has already caused significant casualties and energy market disruptions, according to The Guardian. Trump is due to provide an update on the war on Wednesday, and on Tuesday he said the conflict could end within weeks, leading to a stock market surge. Iran, however, has said it would need guarantees against future attacks to halt its counteroffensive.

As the situation develops, the international community watches closely, with experts warning that any attempt to seize Iranian oil would likely escalate tensions further and violate established norms of international law.

How each outlet told it

The Guardian — World as of Apr 1, 2026, 2:30 PM UTC

Framing: Critical of Trump's statements and actions — Critical and analytical

Facts Included:

Donald Trump wants to take control of Iran's oil
Trump has expressed interest in seizing Kharg Island, a key export hub
Iran has blocked the Strait of Hormuz to most commercial traffic
Trump's statement has been criticized by experts as a disregard for international law
The conflict has killed thousands of people and disrupted global energy supplies

Read the source article →

TASS — English as of Mar 30, 2026, 5:45 AM UTC

Framing: Neutral, focusing on Trump's statement — Neutral and informative

Facts Included:

Donald Trump wants to take control of Iran's oil
Trump expressed this desire in an interview with the Financial Times

Read the source article →

What was claimed, and who backed it

Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.

Claim	Confidence	Status
ClaimDonald Trump wants to take control of Iran's oil by seizing control of a key export hub.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source quoted from The Guardian — World as of Apr 1, 2026, 2:30 PM UTC the outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimTrump expressed his desire to take Iran's oil in an interview with the Financial Times.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source quoted from TASS — English as of Mar 30, 2026, 5:45 AM UTC the outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimIran has blocked the Strait of Hormuz to most commercial traffic.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Guardian — World as of Apr 1, 2026, 2:30 PM UTC
ClaimTrump's statement has been criticized by experts as a disregard for international law.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via The Guardian — World as of Apr 1, 2026, 2:30 PM UTC
ClaimThe conflict has killed thousands of people and disrupted global energy supplies.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Guardian — World as of Apr 1, 2026, 2:30 PM UTC
ClaimTrump believes that taking control of Iran's oil is a viable option, saying 'it's an option' at a Cabinet meeting.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via TASS — English as of Mar 30, 2026, 5:45 AM UTC

Transparency & Audit Trail

2 outlets · 2 articles consulted: The Guardian — World, TASS — English 6 claims extracted Version 1 Written 2026-08-13