Donald Trump has raised the idea of American forces seizing Iran’s main oil terminal in the Persian Gulf as the war in the Middle East enters its fifth week. The US President suggested US troops could seize Kharg Island during an interview with the Financial Times on Monday. He said: “Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don’t. We have a lot of options. It would also mean we had to be [on Kharg Island] for a while.”

Iran has threatened to mine the Persian Gulf if its territory is invaded, as the US and Israeli kept up their attacks on the Islamic Republic a month after strikes were first launched on February 28. Iran also struck a key water and electrical plant in hard-hit Kuwait, part of its ongoing campaign targeting the Gulf Arab states, despite signs of progress in nascent ceasefire talks.

Trump also said Iran had agreed to allow 20 ships carrying oil through the Strait of Hormuz starting Monday morning and continuing over the next few days “out of a sign of respect”.

“I would only say that we’re doing extremely well in that negotiation but you never know with Iran because we negotiate with them and then we always have to blow them up,” he said.

Iran’s attacks on energy infrastructure in the Gulf and its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil is shipped, has sent oil prices skyrocketing and sparked fears of a global oil crisis.

The US has presented Iran with a 15-point plan that includes it agreeing to open the Strait as pressure grows on Mr Trump to bring the conflict to an end. Tehran, meanwhile, as produced its own five-point plan, with terms including maintaining its sovereignty over the key waterway.

Pakistan announced on Sunday that it would host talks between the US and Iran, although there was no immediate confirmation from either party, and it was unclear whether the talks would be direct or indirect.

Thousands of US sailors and marines arrived in the Middle East over the weekend, according to US Central Command, amid Mr Trump’s threats to take control of Kharg, which handles 90% of Iran’s oil exports.

Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf dismissed the Pakistan talks as a cover for more US troops to enter the region.

He said Iranian forces were “waiting for the arrival of American troops on the ground to set them on fire and punish their regional partners forever”, according to state media.