Iran’s Kharg Island key to its oil exports, targeting it carries major risks

Dubai: Iran’s Kharg Island, home to a terminal through which the country exports most of its oil, has emerged as a focus of the month-old war launched by the US and Israel.

Strikes on oil infrastructure on Kharg — or a ground invasion — would severely curb Iran’s oil exports, a key source of revenue for the Islamic Republic. It would also mark a major escalation that could provoke even heavier retaliatory attacks on Gulf Arab infrastructure and further drive up oil prices. The skyrocketing cost of fuel is already threatening the world economy.

A US occupation of the island would put American troops in a stationary position just 33 km off Iran’s coast, well within range of its arsenal of drones and missiles.

Other islands near the vital Strait of Hormuz could also be targeted. Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunb islands are held by Iran but long claimed by the United Arab Emirates, a close US ally. Qeshm Island is home to a desalination plant.

US President Donald Trump said strikes in mid-March “obliterated” Kharg’s military assets but did not target the island’s oil infrastructure.