Trump Issues Chilling Threat to Iran After Attacks on Israel

(Patria) - US President Donald Trump put Iran and the president of its parliament "on hold" on Monday after Tehran attacked Israel's largest oil refinery. In an exclusive interview with the New York Post, Trump said his response is coming "soon."

Iran escalated its attacks on infrastructure, hitting water and electricity facilities in Kuwait, while a large fire broke out at an oil refinery in the Israeli city of Haifa following an Iranian missile attack. When asked for comment on these strikes, Trump briefly said: "You will see very soon."

As Trump brings additional military forces to the region that could inflict catastrophic damage on Iran, he has simultaneously encouraged "what is left" of the Iranian regime to reach a deal before it is too late. He told the New York Post that it will soon be known whether the president of the Iranian parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, is ready to cooperate with the Americans.

"We will find out," Trump said. "I will let you know in about seven days."

The president described dramatic changes within Iran, claiming that the "old guard" has been practically wiped out and replaced by a new group of people whom he says have been easier to work with so far.

"There has been a complete regime change because the old regimes are gone and now we are dealing with a completely new set of people," Trump said. "And for now, they are much more reasonable."

When asked if these are indeed new figures compared to previous American adversaries in Tehran, Trump did not mince words: "Mostly yes. Everyone else is dead."

Trump also pointed to the uncertainty surrounding the health of Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei—the son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The younger Khamenei has not been seen in public since the US and Israel launched attacks on February 28.

"Nobody has heard anything about him," Trump said of the leader, whose private life US intelligence officials had previously speculated about. "He is very badly injured. We don't know if he's alive. We think he probably is, but he is in extremely bad condition."

The interview came just hours after Iran targeted an Israeli oil refinery, the latest in a series of strikes on energy infrastructure in a month-long war.

Oil prices surged on Monday morning, reaching $115 per barrel. In the US, the average price of a gallon of fuel rose to $3.99, the highest level since 2022.

Trump threatened on his Truth Social network to completely destroy Iran's energy grid if a peace deal is not reached urgently:

"The US will consider blowing up and completely erasing all of their power plants, oil sources, and Kharg Island (and possibly all water desalination plants), which we have intentionally left untouched until now," Trump warned.