Trump Says ‘A Little More Time’ Needed To Open Hormuz, ‘Take The Oil & Make A Fortune’ – As Israel Hit Hard During Passover

• Trump: US needs “a little more time” to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, while floating the prospect of seizing oil amid potential island or ground campaign

• Iran and Hezbollah fire 140+ rockets during Jewish Passover, with sustained barrages hitting Israel

• French-owned vessel becomes first Western-linked/European ship to transit Hormuz since war began, signaling a tentative thaw after weeks of near-total shipping freeze

• Iran targets Gulf infrastructure, including a Kuwaiti desalination plant, while UAE defenses intercept large-scale missile and drone waves and energy facilities face disruptions

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‘More Time’ To Retake Strait, ‘Make A Fortune’: Trump

With some US Special Forces units already in the region, and with thousands more Marines and Sailors en route, and after Trump earlier floated at least two to three more weeks of major strikes on Iran, the president on Friday morning wrote on Truth Social that “with a little more time, we can easily OPEN THE HORMUZ STRAIT, TAKE THE OIL, & MAKE A FORTUNE… 

This as the question of some kind of direct ground intervention, likely starting with strategic islands near the Strait, could be unfolding. Certainly the timeline has stayed open-ended and keeps getting extended with pledges of just ‘a little more time’. Easily?

And this more specific threat was issued a day earlier, the same day as Iran’s B1 bridge getting destroyed by a deadly double-tap strike…

Over 140 Rockets Rain Down During Passover in Israel

It’s the Passover period in Israel, and Iranian and Hezbollah missiles have been unrelenting, with The Wall Street Journal documenting that they unleashed more than 140 rockets and missiles on Israel, citing the Israeli military – highlighting sustained firepower more than five weeks into the war, and after various estimates have claimed Iran’s stockpile is diminishing.

Tehran fired roughly 20 missiles that penetrated Israeli territory, while Hezbollah launched over 120 rockets into northern Israel within a 24-hour window from early Wednesday to Thursday, Israeli military spokesman Nadav Shoshani said. The military described the barrage as an escalation on both fronts, also as this week the Houthis have become direct launches on Israel, having confirmed coordination in these waves with Tehran.

Reports of Iranian ballistic missile strikes having damaged water pipelines in Tel Aviv, causing flooding in several areas.

BREAKING: Iranian ballistic missile strikes have damaged water pipelines in Tel Aviv, causing flooding in several areasز#IRGC #IranWar‌ #USA #Israel #Tel_aviv #attack #BREAKING #News pic.twitter.com/HhAgndmeAy

— Conflict Atlas (@Conflict_Atlas) April 3, 2026

Additional rockets also targeted Israeli troops operating inside Lebanon during the same timeframe. Israel, which launched a ground offensive into southern Lebanon last month to push Hezbollah forces back, now faces continued cross-border fire despite the expanding campaign, and people across northern Israel have in many cases been forced to evacuate again, just as during the two-year Gaza war.

First French-Owned Vessel Of War Passes Through Hormuz Strait

A French-owned vessel has become the first Western European-linked ship to transit the Strait of Hormuz since the Iran war erupted in late February, according to ship-tracking data and European media. The Maltese-flagged CMA CGM Kribi, part of the world’s third-largest container line, sailed eastbound Thursday from waters off Dubai, marking a potential tentative return of European-linked shipping through the chokepoint.

Tracking data showed the vessel openly broadcasting its French ownership as it hugged the Iranian coastline, passing through the designated corridor between Qeshm and Larak. The move breaks a weeks-long freeze, with the ship having sat idle in the Gulf since early March alongside many foreign vessels after the conflict effectively shut down commercial traffic.

This after Thursday’s reports that Iran and Oman are working on a protocol to allow passage of vessels. Tanker traffic through the key oil-shipping route “should be supervised and coordinated” between the two countries, Iran’s Foreign Ministry had said.

Iran Attacks Kuwaiti Desalination Plant

Kuwaiti authorities claimed Iranian forces targeted a power and desalination plant, sounding even more alarm bells that civilian infrastructure is increasingly moving into the crosshairs.

Bloomberg quoted Kuwait’s Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy as saying an Iranian strike damaged components of the water desalination plant. This suggests Tehran has exposed the vulnerability of critical water infrastructure across a region that relies heavily on these facilities, which remove salt and impurities from seawater or brackish water for drinking water and other agricultural or industrial uses.

Unconfirmed reports that US F-15 went down over Iran, amid possible large search and rescue operation:

Quite incredible footage from USAF deep inside over Iran as SAR reportedly continues pic.twitter.com/DV5t3yqM5m

— Faytuks News (@Faytuks) April 3, 2026

Al Jazeera’s Mohamed A. Hussein explains the importance further: “The Gulf states are deserts with no permanent rivers. While they lack rivers, they do have seasonal waterways called wadis, which carry water during rare rainfall. These nations rely primarily on groundwater and desalination to supply water to their rapidly growing cities, industrial zones and agricultural areas.”

Latest Iranian Wave of Attacks on Gulf 

Per Al Jazeera, UAE air defenses have stayed busy, having intercepted 18 ballistic missiles, four cruise missiles and 47 drones launched from Iran on Friday, citing defense ministry numbers. In total since the Iran war began, UAE has engaged 475 ballistic missiles, 23 cruise missiles and 2,085 UAVs – the UAE military says further.

Energy infrastructure continues to feel the impact, with operations at Habshan, the UAE’s massive onshore gas-processing hub operated by ADNOC Gas in Abu Dhabi, having been confirmed halted on Friday after authorities said a fire broke out at the facility due to “falling debris” from a “successful interception by air defense systems” of an Iranian air-delivered munition. 

“Abu Dhabi authorities are responding to an incident of falling debris at the Habshan gas facilities following a successful interception by air defense systems,” the UAE’s Emergency, Crisis, and Disaster Management Center wrote on X.