U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday evening announced that he’d ordered strikes on Kharg Island, a small but strategically vital island in the Persian Gulf through which 90 percent of Iran’s crude oil exports flow.
“Moments ago, at my direction, the United States Central Command executed one of the most powerful bombing raids in the History of the Middle East, and totally obliterated every MILITARY target in Iran’s crown jewel, Kharg Island,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday evening announced that he’d ordered strikes on Kharg Island, a small but strategically vital island in the Persian Gulf through which 90 percent of Iran’s crude oil exports flow.
“Moments ago, at my direction, the United States Central Command executed one of the most powerful bombing raids in the History of the Middle East, and totally obliterated every MILITARY target in Iran’s crown jewel, Kharg Island,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Trump said that “for reasons of decency,” he chose “NOT to wipe out the Oil Infrastructure on the Island,” but he added that “should Iran, or anyone else, do anything to interfere with the Free and Safe Passage of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz, I will immediately reconsider this decision.”
Kharg is Iran’s primary oil export terminal, and its processing facilities are crucial to the Iranian economy. The island, which sits just 15 miles off the coast of the Iranian mainland, handles approximately 950 million barrels of crude oil per year.
The strikes on Kharg, which occurred nearly two weeks after the United States and Israel launched the war with Iran, come as Tehran has targeted more than a dozen vessels in the Strait of Hormuz—the narrow waterway through which roughly 20 percent of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas normally travels—effectively bringing traffic through the critical maritime chokepoint to a standstill in an effort to raise oil prices and ramp up pressure on Washington over the conflict. The price of Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil, settled at over $100 a barrel on Friday—a gain of more than 40 percent since the war began in late February.
For days, there has been speculation that the United States might move to strike or seize Kharg to gain leverage over Iran. But experts have cautioned that seizing Kharg carried major risks, which could help explain why Trump took what could be viewed as a more limited step in launching strikes.
“There are pros and potential upsides to seizing Kharg Island,” Gregory Brew, an Iran expert and senior analyst with Eurasia Group, told Foreign Policy on Thursday. “It would theoretically put the United States in a position to impede Iran’s oil exports. It would offer up Trump the opportunity to claim a more decisive win, given that he can claim that the United States has greater leverage over Iran. It would further weaken the regime, given that they would not be able to continue to export oil in the same volume as they are doing currently.”
“But there are also considerable downsides,” Brew added. “For one, Iran would not lose the ability to export completely. They have other export facilities. They have others in the Gulf—they have one export terminal in Jask, which is east of the Strait of Hormuz, which they have also started using more. So, if they lose Kharg, they don’t lose the capability to export. They can likely continue to do so, albeit at lower volumes, at least initially.”
Seizing Kharg would also carry significant risks for any U.S. troops involved. Such a move on Iranian territory would likely trigger a “very aggressive” response from the regime and “put those troops in harm’s way,” Brew said, exposing them to “drone and missile fire in a way that they wouldn’t be or haven’t been at U.S. bases in other hardened locations.”
The Pentagon has ordered additional troops and warships to the region as the war rages on, per multiple reports on Friday, including the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli and roughly 2,500 Marines. This gives Trump more options if he decides to take further actions against Kharg.
Trump has long mused about seizing Kharg Island—at least as far back as 1988—a fact that Fox News Radio host Brian Kilmeade brought up in an interview with Trump on Thursday night that aired on Friday. Kilmeade asked Trump whether he was thinking about making such a move now.
Trump’s answer was surprisingly tetchy for what had until then been a fairly friendly conversation. “Brian, I can’t answer a question like that, and you shouldn’t ask, and you shouldn’t be even asking it. It’s one of so many different things. It’s not high on the list. But it’s one of so many different things, and I can change my mind in seconds,” Trump said.
He continued: “But, you know, for you to ask a question, who would answer a question like that? I mean, you’re asking me a question. Kharg Island, am I thinking—who would ask a question like that, and what fool would answer it? OK? Let’s say I was going to do it, or let’s say I wasn’t going to do it. Why would I tell you? ‘Oh, yes, Brian, I’m thinking about doing it, let me, uh, let me let you know what time and when it’ll take place.’ It’s not, it’s sort of a foolish question—a little surprising for you because you’re a smart man.”
This post is part of FP’s ongoing coverage. Read more here.
