LEILA FADEL, HOST:
The U.S. military has carried out a series of attacks on Iran's Kharg Island. That's Iran's key oil facility just off the country's coastline in the Gulf. And this comes as President Trump threatens to bomb all of Iran's bridges and power plants, moves that international legal experts say could constitute war crimes. We're joined now by NPR national security correspondent Greg Myre for more. Good morning, Greg.
GREG MYRE, BYLINE: Hi, Leila.
FADEL: So what do we know about this attack on Kharg Island?
MYRE: So the U.S. struck military targets on Kharg Island early Tuesday. This is coming from a U.S. official who's not authorized to speak publicly. The official is describing them as re-strikes, targets that the U.S. has hit previously. And the official stressed the U.S. did not hit oil infrastructure, which is the most important part of the island. President Trump has previously threatened to seize control of the island and the oil facilities, but at this point, there's no indication of that. Still, this is worth noting, since this is a significant site and the president is threatening this major escalation in Iran.
FADEL: Now, remind us - obviously it's important because of oil. So just remind us the significance of Kharg Island and when the U.S. hit it previously.
MYRE: Yeah, this - the island is an absolutely critical part of Iran's oil industry. Iran pumps the oil on its mainland, and then it sends it to Kharg Island, about 15 miles off the coast. It's in the northern gulf. And there, it's processed, loaded onto tankers, and it heads south through the Strait of Hormuz. And as we know, Iran is controlling the Strait of Hormuz right now. The U.S. military heavily attacked the island on March 13. It hit nearly 100 military missile and navy sites. Trump said the military sites were totally obliterated at that time, but the island's oil infrastructure was spared.
FADEL: What is the president saying this morning about military action?
MYRE: Yeah, he took to Truth Social and put out a very ominous post saying, quote, "a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again." I don't want it to - "I don't want that to happen, but it probably will." Now, he went on to say that maybe some sort of deal can be struck, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen. Who knows? We will find out tonight. He set this 8 p.m. deadline for Iran to make a deal and threatened to hit every bridge, every power plant in Iran, and talks about complete demolition.
FADEL: I mean, ominous indeed, especially for civilians, if he's saying a whole civilization will die tonight. So I'm hearing these threats from the president, but he's also talked about a ceasefire deal. What's the status of negotiations?
MYRE: Yeah, Leila, it's not promising. There are some proposals going back and forth between the U.S. and Iran. Pakistan is the main mediator here. They're talking about things like possibly a 45-day ceasefire, but neither country seems particularly interested in that at this point. The main U.S. demands are it wants Iran to open up the Strait of Hormuz. It wants it to stop all nuclear enrichment and stop supporting its proxy groups throughout the region. Iran wants the war to end and guarantees of no more attacks, and it wants U.S. bases out of the region. So they seem very, very far apart. It really doesn't seem like we're going to see any major progress, certainly not today.
FADEL: That's NPR's Greg Myre. Thank you, Greg.
MYRE: Sure thing. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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