Americanswers! Why does Trump want to take Iran’s Kharg Island?

Americast

Monday, 30 March 2026 - 32 minutes

Donald Trump has said the US will “conclude” its war in Iran by “blowing up and completely obliterating” key assets in the country, including Kharg Island - Iran’s key oil export terminal - if a deal is not reached. He also suggested in a social media post that “great progress” had been made with Iran’s “new” regime. The president’s rhetoric has raised fears that the war could still escalate and the U.S might actually be prepared to seize Iranian territory. Justin and Sumi join up for this week’s Americanswers to answer your questions on the war in Iran. They discuss the domestic response to possible U.S involvement in a deadly strike on an Iranian primary school, and accusations that some traders are illegally profiteering from volatility in oil prices.And, as Donald Trump publicly talks up the role of Pete Hegseth in initiating the war in Iran, is the president looking to shift responsibility for the war onto his defence secretary?HOSTS:
• Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter
• Sumi Somaskanda, BBC chief presenterGET IN TOUCH:
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• Or use #AmericastThis episode was made by George Dabby with Alix Pickles. The technical producer was Dafydd Evans. The series producer is George Dabby. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.If you want to be notified every time we publish a new episode, please subscribe to us on BBC Sounds by hitting the subscribe button on the app.You can now listen to Americast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Americast”. It works on most smart speakers.US Election Unspun: Sign up for Anthony’s BBC newsletter: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68093155Americast is part of the BBC News Podcasts family of podcasts. The team that makes Americast also makes lots of other podcasts, including Newscast. If you enjoy Americast (and if you're reading this then you hopefully do), then we think that you will enjoy some of our other pods too. See links below.Newscast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/series/p05299nl
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