The United States has again attacked Iran’s economic lifeline. Explosions were reported on the Islamic Republic’s Kharg Island on Tuesday Located off Iran’s western coast, Kharg Island is home to a major oil terminal from
The United States has again attacked Iran’s economic lifeline
The United States has again attacked Iran’s economic lifeline. Explosions were reported on the Islamic Republic’s Kharg Island on Tuesday
Located off Iran’s western coast, Kharg Island is home to a major oil terminal from
Located off Iran’s western coast, Kharg Island is home to a major oil terminal from which nearly all the country’s oil is exported. The attack comes following Trump’s several threats to bomb the small island or to seize it.
Let’s take a closer look.
US attacks Kharg Island again
The US conducted strikes on military targets on Iran’s Kharg Island. The attacks did not target oil facilities on the island, a US official told CNN.
Semi-official Iranian news agency Mehr reported that “several explosions” were heard on the 22-square-kilometre coral island.
A senior American official told Fox News: “US hit dozens of military targets on Kharg Island overnight.” Some of the targeted sites were struck before, a US official separately was cited by Reuters as saying.
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US Vice President JD Vance acknowledged the Tuesday strikes on Kharg Island but said they do not represent “a change in strategy”.
During a press conference in Budapest, he said he had spoken with US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Dan Caine beforehand.
“We were going to strike some military targets on Kharg Island, and I believe we have done so,” Vance said.
“We’re not going to strike energy and infrastructure targets until the Iranians either make a proposal that we can get behind or don’t make a proposal,” he added. “I don’t think the news in Kharg Island … represents a change in strategy, or represents any change from the President of the United States.”
This was the second attack by the US on the Iranian island during the ongoing war. On March 13, the US launched airstrikes on Kharg Island, with Trump saying US forces had “totally obliterated” every military target in “Iran’s crown jewel”.
The US Central Command said at the time that it had struck 90 targets, including
The US Central Command said at the time that it had struck 90 targets, including “naval mine storage facilities, missile storage bunkers, and multiple other military sites.” It had not targeted the island’s oil infrastructure.
File Photo/Distribution Airbus DS/Handout via Reuters
A satellite image shows damage on Kharg Island, Iran, after US strikes, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, March 14, 2026. File Photo/Distribution Airbus DS/Handout via Reuters
As per the semi-official Fars news agency, US attacks had targeted air defences, a naval base, an airport control tower and a helicopter hangar.
Trump has threatened to take over Kharg Island several times. In an interview with the Financial Times late last month, the US president said, “Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don’t. We have a lot of options.”
He added, “It would also mean we had to be there [in Kharg Island] for a while… I don’t think they have any defence. We could take it very easily.”
Before his deadline comes to an end, Trump has issued a stark threat to Iran, saying “a whole civilisation will die tonight”.
“A whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Kharg Island’s significance for Iran
Kharg Island, a critical oil hub, is located 55 km northwest of the Bushehr port and 15 nautical miles (about 28 km) from the Iranian mainland.
The island, which lies in the waters of the northern Persian Gulf, is the economic backbone of Iran. It accounts for around 90 per cent of the Islamic Republic’s crude exports and has a loading capacity of about seven million (70 lakh) barrels per day.
The terminal receives crude from three major offshore fields – Aboozar, Forouzan and Dorood. The island’s deep surrounding waters allow supertankers to dock safely and load crude.
The crude oil is transported via a complex network of subsea pipelines to onshore processing facilities. It is later stored or shipped to global markets, reported Al Jazeera.
The crude processed at the island is primarily exported to Asia, with China as the leading market.
The island provides a major source of revenue for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)
The island provides a major source of revenue for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)
The island provides a major source of revenue for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
It houses at least 8,000 residents, many of them oil workers. As access to the island is restricted, it has earned the nickname “Forbidden Island”.
What strikes on Kharg Island mean
Analysts say an attack on Iran’s Kharg Island is a major escalation in the war.
As per a previous CNN report, the Trump administration was mulling sending US troops to seize the tiny island to force Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Tehran, however, has also been preparing for a possible ground invasion by the US. It had reportedly been laying traps and deploying additional military personnel and air defences to the island in recent weeks.
Energy analysts have said that the US’ focus on Kharg Island shows both the island’s strategic importance to Iran and its leverage over global oil markets.
“Iran has other ports, but presumably if the US took control of or destroyed Kharg Island, it would be possible to do the same to the other export facilities,” Josh Young, chief investment officer at Bison Interests, was quoted as saying by CNBC.
According to data by JPMorgan, a direct strike on Iran’s oil terminal on the island would bring a halt to most of its 1.5 million (15 lakh) barrels per day crude exports.
“Destruction of its oil infrastructure would take years to rebuild, leaving the country deprived of its most critical source of revenue,” Vandana Hari, founder of Vanda Insights, told CNBC in an email previously.
″[Tehran] would escalate by attacking more energy infrastructure in the region, for instance, Abqaiq in Saudi Arabia,” Edward Fishman, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, referring to the kingdom’s massive oil processing facility, warned.
Following the reports of the US attack on Kharg Island, global oil prices surged, with US crude (WTI) increasing around 3 per cent to over $115 (Rs 10,691) per barrel, while Brent crossed $110 (Rs 10,226).
