What is Kharg Island? Trump weighs strike on Iran's oil hub as Gulf war heats up
India Today
As the Gulf war intensifies, Kharg Island has emerged as a high-stakes flashpoint, with US President Donald Trump reportedly weighing options to strike Iran's oil hub — a move that could cripple Iran's economy but also send shockwaves through global energy markets.
As the war involving the US, Israel and Iran, now into its second week, heats up, the Trump administration is weighing options to hit Kharg Island, a tiny, but a strategically crucial oil hub of Iran that analysts say could become a decisive pressure point against Tehran, Israel-based Ynet News reported.
The small island, located about 25 km off Iran’s coast near Bushehr province, handles nearly 90 per cent of the country’s crude oil exports, making it a cornerstone of Iran’s economy and a major source of revenue for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Experts say that if Washington seeks to escalate pressure beyond airstrikes, seizing or disabling Kharg Island’s oil infrastructure could deprive Tehran of one of its biggest financial lifelines. Because of its central role in global energy supply chains, any attack on the island could also send international oil prices sharply higher, making it one of the most sensitive targets in the ongoing Gulf war.
Michael Rubin, a former Pentagon adviser on Iran and Iraq, said a move to attack Kharg could significantly weaken the regime’s ability to fund its military apparatus and maintain domestic control, according to Ynet News.
Rubin said he has raised the island’s strategic significance with officials in Washington and believes discussions have circulated within the US National Security Council. However, he suggested it is unclear whether the issue has reached the small group of advisers believed to influence Trump’s decisions on the Gulf war.
As Iran’s economy depends heavily on oil revenues, the facilities on Kharg — including storage tanks, pipelines and tanker-loading terminals — form a crucial financial lifeline for Tehran. With its location in the Persian Gulf, the island serves as the country’s main oil export terminal.
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