US President Donald Trump has warned of wider operations and the possible capture of Kharg Island, which is home to a major oil terminal, the BBC writes.
Speaking to the Financial Times on the 29th of March, Trump said that he wanted to seize Iran’s oil and was considering taking over Kharg Island, but added that in that case the Americans would have to spend some time there. On the 13th of March, Trump reported that US forces had completely destroyed all military targets on the island, but had refrained from targeting oil infrastructure.
In March, the US media outlet Axios cited sources close to the matter and reported that the capture or blockade of the island was being considered to force Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz to traffic. Speculation has been rife for some time about whether the Americans might try to land on the island. Capturing Kharg would not only stop Iran’s oil exports, but also provide a launching pad for further attacks on Iran. Trump told the Financial Times that the US might or might not take the island, and that there were many possibilities. He also said he believed the island had no defenses, so taking it would be easy.
Sources told BBC partner CBS News that Pentagon officials had drawn up a detailed plan for deploying ground forces to Iran. Talk of entering Iranian territory was also fueled by US Central Command’s announcement on the 28th of March that 3,500 more American troops had arrived in the Middle East.
Both the White House and the Pentagon have declined to comment on the plans,
but have repeatedly made it clear that a ground operation is not ruled out.
BBC Security Brief security analyst Mikey Kay said that seizing the island would cripple the economic viability of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and affect its ability to wage war. School of War host and CBS national security analyst Aaron Maclean said the US thinking was likely to be that the island could be seized and used as leverage to force the Iranians to allow them to use the Strait of Hormuz. According to Maclean, any US operation to seize the island would be relatively small but challenging.
The speaker of Iran’s parliament has warned that the country’s armed forces are waiting for the Americans, and any attempts by US troops to enter the country would be met with fire and brimstone. An Iranian military official previously told the media that shipping in the Red Sea would also be targeted in the event of a ground attack.
In recent weeks, Iran has beefed up its defenses around Kharg Island, including deploying additional troops and air defense systems.
It has also deployed missile launchers to the island and mined the surrounding waters.
Kharg Island is located about 24 kilometers off the coast of Iran and, despite its small size, is a critical point in Iran’s energy infrastructure. An oil terminal on the island handles about 90% of Iran’s crude oil, which is brought to the island by pipelines from the mainland. Trump has mentioned the possibility of targeting the pipelines, but has so far refrained from doing so in order to avoid long-term damage to Iran’s economy. On the 16th of March, the US president said that the pipelines could be destroyed in five minutes and it would be over just like that.
The island can be loaded by very large tankers because the island’s shores are close to deep water, unlike the much shallower coast of mainland Iran. Tankers leave the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz after loading their cargo and head to China, one of Iran’s main oil buyers. As a major oil export point, Kharg Island is also a major source of funding for the IRGC.
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