Iran on Monday dismissed as “laughable” a Truth Social AI-generated post by U.S. President Donald Trump that the key Iranian oil export hub of Kharg Island is “being blown to smithereens”, as tensions in the Middle East boiled up again with U.S. attacks and Iranian claims of retaliatory strikes.

President Trump late on Sunday posted an AI-generated video on his Truth Social platform, with the caption “Kharg Island being blown to smithereens!!! President DJT”.

In response to the post, Iran on Monday said, via Hamid Bovard, chief executive of government-run National Iranian Oil Company, “Trump’s tweets are laughable and conditions in Kharg are calm and appropriate.”

Kharg Island, a small coral island in the northern Persian Gulf, handles about 90% of all oil exports from Iran. But as of Monday, there was no evidence that the island had been bombed or damaged in any way.

Nevertheless, the beginning of this week marked the resumption of strikes for the first time in several weeks, as U.S. forces struck Iran for the first time in over a month, and Iran later retaliated by targeting U.S. bases in Jordan.

U.S. forces struck two Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island, which sits inside the Strait of Hormuz. According to a U.S. Central Command spokesperson, the attack came after the IRGC were observed “preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz.”

As a result, oil prices jumped in early Monday trade in Asia.

The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) vowed “response and punishment” in retaliation for the first U.S. strikes in weeks, which Iran says claimed two lives and injured two other people.

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Iran later claimed it had struck two U.S. air bases in Jordan in response to the attack on Larak.

On Monday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that “Iran’s armed forces will not hesitate to exercise the inherent right of self-defence” and will respond decisively and appropriately to any enemy military aggression.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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