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By Steve Mollman
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President Donald Trump announced Friday on Truth Social the United States had just “obliterated every military target in Iran’s crown jewel, Kharg Island.” But while “one of the most powerful bombing raids in the History of the Middle East,” as he described it, occurred, he had Kharg Island in mind as a target nearly 40 years ago.
While promoting his book The Art of the Deal in the United Kingdom in 1988, Trump discussed U.S.-Iran relations following the 1979 Iranian Revolution and hostage crisis. Mulling hypothetical military actions, Trump told The Guardian at the time, “They’ve been beating us psychologically, making us look a bunch of fools. One bullet shot at one of our men or ships, and I’d do a number on Kharg Island. I’d go in and take it.”
Why It Matters
Kharg Island, a small coral island about 21 miles off Iran’s coast, is not just any target—it’s the symbolic economic artery for Iran, the primary terminal through which its oil exports pass.
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Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz as U.S. and Israeli strikes intensified this week, with cargo traffic effectively halted through the narrow maritime pathway that carries a fifth of the world's oil. Oil spiked to over $100 a barrel earlier this week, marking the first time in four years it has crossed that threshold, and remains close to that price even after the U.S. temporarily lifted sanctions on Russian oil at sea.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) said Wednesday its members would release a record 400 million barrels of oil from their emergency reserves to ease market pressure caused by threats to oil supplies traveling through the strait. However, some economists warned it would do little to reassure markets.
What To Know
While military targets were struck on Friday, Trump warned the island’s oil facilities could be next if Iran continues curbing ship traffic in the strait, writing on Truth Social, “I have chosen NOT to wipe out the Oil Infrastructure on the Island. However, should Iran, or anyone else, do anything to interfere with the Free and Safe Passage of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz, I will immediately reconsider this decision.”
Kharg Island was also targeted in the eight-year Iran-Iraq War due to its critical role in Iran’s economy. With a strategic location in the Persian Gulf, it hosts massive storage tanks and pipelines. Large tankers dock there to transport oil from Iran’s vast reserves to global markets, particularly East Asia.
Trump has grown frustrated about Iran's ability to restrict traffic in the Strait of Hormuz—despite its military being severely depleted by U.S. and Israeli strikes that began on February 28 and killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“We have already destroyed 100% of Iran’s Military capability, but it’s easy for them to send a drone or two, drop a mine, or deliver a close range missile somewhere along, or in, this Waterway, no matter how badly defeated they are,” the president wrote in a Truth Social post on Saturday morning.
He added that “many countries” will send warships to keep the strait open in conjunction with the U.S., but did not name any, only stating that “hopefully China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and others, that are affected by this artificial constraint, will send Ships.”
But Iran’s new leader Mojtaba Khamenei vowed on Thursday to continue obstructing the strait, with the nation warning the U.S. against hitting its oil infrastructure after the Kharg Island bombing.
“In the event of an attack on the oil, economic and energy infrastructure of the Islamic Republic of Iran … all oil, economic and energy infrastructure belonging to oil companies throughout the region that own American stocks or cooperate with the United States will be immediately destroyed,” a spokesperson for Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said, according to a report by Iran's Fars news agency. “They will be destroyed and turned into a pile of ashes.”
Meanwhile, some Republican lawmakers have expressed concern elevated gas prices could hurt the party’s chances in the midterm election later this year. The conflict has also left many Trump supporters disenchanted after he promised to not get the U.S. entangled in unnecessary foreign wars.
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The Importance of Kharg Island
Iran has exported 13.7 million barrels from the island since the war started, with multiple tankers seen on satellite imagery Wednesday loading at Kharg, according to TankerTrackers.com, a maritime intelligence company, the Associated Press reported.
Iran gets a significant share of its revenue from oil, with shipments flowing to places like China. A strike on Kharg would damage Iran’s current government but also could undermine the viability of a replacement, according to the AP.
The island has storage tanks in the south and also houses thousands of workers.
Petras Katinas, an energy researcher at the Royal United Services Institute, told the AP the island is critical to funding Iran’s government and military, adding if Iran loses Kharg, it would be difficult for the country to function, even though the island isn’t a military or nuclear target.
“It doesn’t matter which regime is in power—new or old,” Katinas said, adding that a takeover would give the U.S. leverage over negotiations with Tehran because the island is “the main node” of its economy.
This week, JPMorgan’s global commodity research team warned in an investment note a strike on the island would have major economic implications.
What People Are Saying
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote on X on Friday: "President Trump has been remarkably consistent his entire life on Iran. Anyone who says otherwise has not been paying attention."
Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, wrote on X on Saturday: "Iran’s attempt to close the Strait of Hormuz is done at its own peril. President Trump’s decision to take the war to Kharg Island - the crown jewel of Iran’s oil and gas economy - was necessary, bold and in my view, highly effective. This will help shorten the war. Seldom in warfare does an enemy provide you a single target like Kharg Island that could dramatically alter the outcome of the conflict. If Iran loses control or the ability to operate its oil infrastructure from Kharg Island, its economy is annihilated. He who controls Kharg Island, controls the destiny of this war. Semper Fi."
President Donald Trump told Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade earlier this week: “These ships should go through the Strait of Hormuz and show some guts, there’s nothing to be afraid of...They [Iran] have no Navy, we sunk all their ships.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday about Iran: “As the world is seeing, they are exercising sheer desperation in the Straits [sic] of Hormuz, something we’re dealing with. We have been dealing with it and don’t need to worry about it. We’re on plan to defeat, destroy, disable all of their meaningful military capabilities at a pace the world has never seen before.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, wrote on X on Thursday: “A college student with a basic understanding of geopolitics could tell you that Iran’s greatest leverage is this narrow passage through which a huge share of the world’s oil must travel. And now the administration is scrambling to contain the damage and deal with rising oil prices.”
Update 3/14/26, 2:18 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
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