US President Donald Trump on Thursday vowed to seize control of Iran's Kharg Island, a small coral outcrop off the Iranian coast that is crucial to the country's crude exports.
"At some point in the not too distant future, we will be taking Kharg Island, and other oil infrastructure points, and assume total control of their Oil and Gas Markets," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
If Tehran loses control of Kharg, Iran’s oil exports would not come to a complete stop, but they would be seriously impacted, increasing pressure on Iran's economy. The island holds some of Iran's largest oil storage tanks, the endpoints of export pipelines, deep-water loading terminals, as well as military and air defence installations.
US occupation of the island could also tie down Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The island sits around 25 kilometres off the Iranian coast and would present a tricky but feasible operation for the US military, which would need to take out the island’s air-defence systems, land its forces and set up cover.
