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JD Vance says Trump’s Kharg Island AI video was a message to Iran

JD Vance says Trump’s Kharg Island AI video was a message to Iran

US Vice President JD Vance speaks to the media before boarding Air Force Two at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, on August 31, 2026. Photograph: (AFP)

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JD Vance says Donald Trump’s Kharg Island post was a message to Iran, while the US Defence Department denied striking the key oil export hub.

US Vice President JD Vance said on Monday that the US President Donald Trump was sending a message with his Truth Social post of an AI-generated video claiming Iran’s Kharg Island had been ‘blown to smithereens’. However, the US Defence Department said American forces had not struck the country’s main oil export hub.

"The president likes to switch it up ​on social media a little bit. He ⁠would be the first to say he ​doesn't make announcements about military actions on social ​media, but I think that he's sending a message to the Iranians," Vance said when asked about Trump's post.

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The head of National Iranian Oil Co, Hamid Bovard, said on Monday that the president’s post was “laughable” and described conditions on Kharg Island as “calm and appropriate.” US had targeted Iranian ​launchers on Larak Island, and in response, Iranian forces fired missiles at Jordan and the UAE. A senior Iranian source, speaking to Reuters, described the overnight hostilities between the United States and Iran, the first since late July, as a “limited and contained confrontation”, but said Iran would respond harshly if attacked again.

The Global oil market is already witnessing a shortfall of roughly 20 per cent of daily supply due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. A successful attack on the Iranian Kharg Island will cut off roughly 90 per cent of Iranian crude oil exports. This would send crude oil prices soaring higher, worsening the energy crisis and putting pressure on the global economy.

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.

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Kushal Deb

Kushal Deb is a mid-career journalist with seven years of experience and a strong academic background. Passionate about research, storytelling, writes about economics, policy, cult...Read More