President Donald Trump said on Friday that the U.S. military had carried out an airstrike on military facilities on Kharg Island—a small stretch of land in the northern Persian Gulf off the coast of Iran. The island hosts Iran’s main oil export terminal, which plays a central role in the country’s economy.
According to a U.S. military spokesman, the operation targeted stockpiles of missiles and naval mines. American officials had previously said these weapons were being used in attempts to disrupt international shipping routes in the Strait of Hormuz, located at the opposite end of the gulf. He also noted that the strikes were conducted in a way intended to avoid damaging the island’s oil infrastructure.
Why Is Kharg Island So Important?
Kharg Island covers roughly a third of Manhattan’s area and, before the war began, handled about 90 percent of Iran’s crude oil exports. Its strategic importance stems largely from natural conditions: the waters around the island are deep enough to accommodate large oil tankers, while much of Iran’s Persian Gulf coastline is considerably shallower.
Iran—one of the world’s largest oil producers—has relied on Kharg as its main maritime export hub since the 1960s. The island hosts extensive storage facilities and a network of pipelines linking the terminal to the country’s largest oil and gas fields. Any disruption to this system would deal a blow to Iran’s economy and would inevitably reverberate across global energy markets.
How Intensive Were Its Operations?
In recent years, the terminal has had the capacity to load up to ten supertankers at the same time, which then depart on voyages across the oceans.
Three key energy infrastructure facilities operate on the island, including Falat Iran Oil Company—considered the largest in the country.
China remains the main buyer of Iranian oil, purchasing it through what is known as a shadow fleet of tankers that allows shipments to bypass Western sanctions. Oil exports to China accounted for about 6 percent of Iran’s economy and were roughly equivalent to half of the country’s total government spending. Iran supplied about 13 percent of China’s oil imports.
Has It Been Targeted Before?
The last time the island came under major attack was during the Iran–Iraq War in the 1980s. Iraqi forces under Saddam Hussein carried out intensive bombing raids against the island’s oil infrastructure, causing extensive damage. Iran later managed to rebuild the destroyed facilities.
After the U.S. strikes on Friday, a senior official from Iran’s Oil Ministry said the attack had been extremely powerful and destructive. According to him, employees at the oil facilities reported nearly two hours of continuous explosions that shook the island “like an earthquake.”
The official, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue, said that a strike on Kharg Island’s oil and gas infrastructure would immediately halt a significant share of Iran’s oil exports.