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reporters on Air Force One that the US had achieved “regime change” in Iran through the war, citing the number of Iranian leaders who have been killed.

“We’re dealing with different people than anybody’s dealt with before. It’s a whole different group of people. So, I would consider that regime change.”

Trump also warned Iranian leaders that they “are not gonna have a country” if they don’t give up nuclear weapons.

Earlier, the US president told The Financial Times newspaper that he wants to “take the oil” in Iran and said Washington could capture Kharg Island.

Trump compared the potential move with the US approach in Venezuela, where he noted Washington’s intention to control the oil industry “indefinitely” following the abduction of President Nicolas Maduro in January.

“To be honest with you, my favourite thing is to take the oil in Iran, but some stupid people back in the US say, ‘Why are you doing that?’ But they’re stupid people,” he said.

“Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don’t. We have a lot of options,” Trump told the FT. “It would also mean we had to be there [in Kharg Island] for a while.”

When asked if he would put boots on the ground, Trump said he has “lots of alternatives”. “We are weeks ahead of schedule” in the war on Iran, he said.

“We’ve got about 3,000 targets left – we’ve bombed 13,000 targets – and another couple of thousand targets to go,” Trump said.

The US president also rejected any Iranian toll for ships passing the strait.

On March 22, Trump threatened to strike Iran’s power plants if the Strait of Hormuz was not reopened within 48 hours. He has since extended the deadline twice, most recently pausing attacks for 10 days until April 6 (US time).

Despite making diplomatic overtures, including proposing a 15-point plan to end the war, the United States has also been sending more military assets into the region, including an amphibious assault ship carrying 3,500 Marines, raising fears of ground operations.

Iranian leaders have denied being in direct talks with the US.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei, yesterday, referring to the 15-point US demand, said the requests were “unreasonable”.

Baghaei also said Iran’s parliament was reviewing a possible exit from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, but claimed that the Islamic republic was not seeking a nuclear weapon.

Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt yesterday told reporters that Trump would be interested in calling on Arab countries to pay for the cost of the Iran war.

“I think it’s something the President would be quite interested in calling them to do,” Leavitt said.

On the ground, fighting escalated across the Middle East.

Israeli media reported that an oil refinery in the northern city of Haifa had been hit. Television network Channel 12 showed thick black smoke billowing into the sky from the site.

Yemen also launched drone attacks on Israel, its third attack in as many days.

Kuwait yesterday said an Indian national was killed in an Iranian attack on a power and desalination plant in the country. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards later denied involvement and said Israel was behind the attack.

Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted five ballistic missiles. Turkey’s defence ministry said a ballistic missile launched from Iran entered Turkish airspace before being shot down by Nato air and missile defences.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah said its forces targeted the naval base in Haifa with a “barrage of advanced missiles”.

Meanwhile, powerful explosions were heard in Tehran yesterday as the Israeli military said it was “currently attacking the infrastructure” of the Iranian government, “throughout Tehran”.

In the past 24 hours, attacks have been reported in Karaj, Shiraz, Qom, Abadan and Tabriz.

Meanwhile, Indonesia yesterday confirmed that three of its peacekeepers were killed in Lebanon.

Two peacekeepers were killed yesterday after an explosion from an unknown origin destroyed their vehicle near Bani Hayyan in south Lebanon, the UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL said in a statement. Two other soldiers were wounded in the blast. On Sunday, another peacekeeper was killed. It was not clear who was responsible for the attack.