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Trump plans invasion of Kharg Island: Why it's so important to Iran

2026-03-20 19:34:28Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Trump plans invasion of Kharg Island: Why it's so important to Iran
Trump plans invasion of Kharg Island

US President Donald Trump is considering plans to occupy or blockade Iran's Kharg Island to pressure Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Axios reports, citing four unidentified sources.

"We need about a month to weaken the Iranians more with attacks, to take the island and then to hold them tight and use it for negotiations," one of the sources told Axios.

US and Israeli attacks on the island, a hub for 90 percent of Iran's oil exports, targeted military installations; however, a ground invasion puts US troops within Iranian strike range.

The US military has already approved deploying additional troops to the region amid its war against Iran.

"If Trump decides to have a coastal invasion, that will happen. But that decision has not been made," a senior Trump administration official told Axios, regarding plans to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Why is Kharg Island important to Iran?

Kharg Island is a small rock just 15 nautical miles (24 km) off the coast of Iran.

Despite its size, it is one of the most critical parts of Iran's energy infrastructure.

The US strike on this small but vital island in the Northern Gulf is like striking Iran's economic lifeline.

Ninety percent of Iran's crude oil comes through a terminal on the island - transported via pipelines from the mainland.

Very large tankers – capable of carrying up to 85 million gallons of oil – are able to come up to the island's long piers to pick up the oil. The island's coast is quite close to deep water, unlike the shallower shores of the mainland.

The tankers then return to the Persian Gulf and exit the Strait of Hormuz, to China – the main buyer of Iranian oil.

A terminal for Iranian oil exports, the island provides a major source of revenue for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

What have the US and Iran said about the attack?

On Friday, Trump said that US Central Command had "executed one of the most powerful bombing raids in the history of the Middle East and completely destroyed every military target on Iran's jewel, Kharg Island."

He added that, "for reasons of courtesy," he had "chosen NOT to destroy the oil infrastructure on the island."

US Central Command said US forces had struck "more than 90 Iranian military targets on Kharg Island, protecting oil infrastructure".

It said it had destroyed naval mine storage facilities, missile storage bunkers and many other military sites.

Iranian state media reported that no damage was caused to the island's oil facilities. The Fars news agency said the US strikes targeted air defenses, a naval base, an airport control tower and a helicopter hangar.

Ehsan Jahanian, political deputy to the governor of Bushehr province in southern Iran, said that "no military personnel, oil company employees or island residents suffered casualties in the attack and all sectors are continuing their routine activities."

Jahanian said the process of exporting oil from Kharg was "fully underway" and "the activities of companies based on the island are continuing without interruption," according to a report by the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news agency.

Following the attacks, the country's military warned that oil and energy infrastructure belonging to firms working with the US would be "instantly destroyed and reduced to a pile of ashes" if its energy facilities were attacked.

Why didn't the US target the island's oil facilities?

Military action to destroy the island's infrastructure would be extremely damaging to Iran.

It would also represent a significant escalation of the conflict.

This is likely to increase global oil prices and could also lead to Iran targeting more oil infrastructure across the Middle East.

Two weeks after the start of the war, Iran still has the capacity to launch large numbers of low-cost, high-explosive drones at its Gulf Arab neighbors, as well as at naval vessels.

Potentially, it could expand these objectives to include vital infrastructure such as desalination plants that provide drinking water to millions of people.

Justin Crump, a military analyst and former British Army officer, said the bombing was an attempt by Trump to deter Iran from further escalating the conflict.

“He is portraying himself as merciful, but saying he could be more punitive towards the IRGC” by targeting oil facilities, Crump, who is also CEO of intelligence consultancy Sibylline, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

Trump previously stated that the purpose of the war was so that the people of Iran could rise up and overthrow the Islamic Republic's regime.

While he has since expressed other motivations for the war, Crump said targeting the island's oil infrastructure was "difficult" as it would destroy the country's economic life for a long period of time.

"That doesn't say much about their [the Iranian people's] future," he said, adding that when the island's oil infrastructure was destroyed during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, it took a long time to rebuild.

Will the US try to invade the island?

There has been speculation as to whether US forces will at some point attempt to occupy Kharg Island.

This invasion would not only hinder Iran's oil exports, but could also provide a platform from which attacks against the continent could be carried out.

US media reports that amphibious ships carrying up to 5,000 sailors and marines are now being sent to the Persian Gulf, adding to this speculation.

The Pentagon has declined to comment.

Taking the island would effectively cut off the IRGC's economic lifeline, affecting its ability to wage war, says security analyst Mikey Kay, from the BBC's Security Brief.


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