Is Kharg Island Iran’s Achilles Heel? Why Trump has designs on tiny oil hub in the Persian Gulf
US forces have launched multiple strikes on Kharg island, a small but key location in the ongoing war with Iran.
With just hours to go until Donald Trump’s deadline for Iran to make a deal and end the month-long conflict, the United States military confirmed on Tuesday it had targeted Kharg.
Previously Trump has mused about seizing the island altogether, though this would require troops on the ground and has yet to transpire.
The strategically-important location handles some 90 per cent of Iran’s oil exports, and taking it would give the US the ability to disrupt Iran’s energy trade and place enormous pressure on the economy.
Below we look at the island and why it could prove pivotal to the war.
Kharg sits 16 miles from the coast in the northern end of the Gulf and just northwest of the Strait of Hormuz, a strategically important shipping route that Iran has effectively closed to pile pressure on the US.
While US forces could likely seize Kharg quite quickly, analysts say that an occupation is more likely to expand and prolong the war than it is to deliver a decisive victory or leverage in negotiations.
Iran has fortified the island with additional surface-to-air missiles and laid traps including anti-personnel and anti-armour mines in the waters surrounding it, CNN has reported, citing people familiar with US intelligence.
US administration officials say discussions on seizing Kharg Island have taken place, according to Axios. The land, which is smaller than the City of Westminster in London, could choke off Iran’s economy and leave a devastating impact for years to come.
“Seizing the island would cut off Iran’s oil lifeline, which is crucial for the regime,” Petras Katinas, research fellow in climate, energy and defence in the Europe office of the Royal United Services Institute, told The Telegraph.
“Of course, with shipping via the Strait of Hormuz now stopped, they cannot sell oil anyway, but looking ahead, seizure would give the US leverage during negotiations, no matter which regime is in power after the military operation ends.”
Shipping through the Strait has largely come to a halt since the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) took “complete control” of the major waterway.
Global supply chains have been severely affected and experts have warned of a devastating economic impact across the world if it continues.
Oil prices surged to well over $100 a barrel since the war began, and the IRGC has warned that it could reach $200 if hostilities escalate.
