Why is Kharg Island important? What to know about the Iranian island attacked by the US

President Trump said the US military “completely destroyed” all military targets on Kharg Island during large-scale precision strikes on Friday, placing the small strategic island in the global spotlight.

Just 20 miles off Iran’s northern Gulf coast, Kharg Island is the center of Iran’s oil exports and a key bargaining chip that Trump plans to use to keep the Strait of Hormuz open and secure.

The president said U.S. forces bypassed the island’s oil export infrastructure, but warned Iran that if they “do anything to interfere with the free and safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, I will immediately reconsider this decision.”

Here’s what you should know about the heavily fortified island and why it is strategically valuable.

What is Kharg Island?

Kharg Island is located approximately 20 miles off the northern coast of the Gulf of Iran. For decades, it has served as Iran’s main oil export terminal, historically handling between 85% and 95% of the country’s crude oil exports.

Tankers load on the island before passing through the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. If the island’s loading facilities were destroyed, Iran’s ability to export oil would collapse almost immediately. Oil revenues, obtained mainly from the sale of crude oil to China, remain one of the Islamic Republic’s most important sources of financing.

Attacks on oil infrastructure would be a massive escalation of the war that could cause panic in global oil markets, and threats to the island would put pressure on Tehran’s energy system.

How could attacks threaten Iran’s energy system?

Iran has been threatening the world’s energy markets by keeping the Strait of Hormuz closed to most traffic, but the attacks on Kharg Island show that the United States can affect Iran.

National security analyst Aaron MacLean told News on Saturday morning that Trump has shown he has leverage if Iran keeps the Strait closed. About 20% of the world’s oil supply passes through this waterway.

“The president has linked the vulnerability of Kharg Island to Iran’s continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz,” MacLean said.

Oil and gas prices have skyrocketed since the war began. a release of 172 million barrels of the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve failed to calm investors, and the price of a barrel of crude oil rose above $100 for the first time in years on Thursday.

Kharg Island has been a target before

This is not the first time that Kharg Island has found itself at the center of a war. During the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, Saddam Hussein sent Iraqi planes to repeatedly bomb the island in an attempt to choke off Iran’s oil revenues. The facilities were severely damaged, but Iran continued to repair them and exports continued.

Since then, Tehran has heavily fortified Kharg, building air defenses, reinforced infrastructure and underground storage designed to keep oil flowing even under sustained attack.

While Iran cannot match the United States or Israel in conventional military terms, it has spent decades preparing for asymmetric warfare. If Kharg Island were seriously threatened, Tehran would likely respond on multiple fronts. Iran’s military could continue to attack US bases throughout the Gulf, increase attacks by allied militias in Iraq and elsewhere, and continue attacking shipping in the Strait of Hormuz using fast attack boats, naval mines and suicide drones.

Iran’s response would not defeat a superior military force head-on, but it would make operating in the Gulf painful and costly.