Six months into the war with Iran, US president Donald Trump has posted a fake AI video to social media, claiming that a key Iranian island was being destroyed. The claim that Kharg Island was “blow to smithereens”, accompanied by a clip of refineries exploding into flames on Truth Social, was quickly debunked by his own officials. The US has struck Kharg before, however, with Vice President JD Vance confirming in April “military targets” on the outlet had been hit.
Trump himself has previously suggested the strategically-important location, which experts have described as Iran’s “Achilles Heel”, could be seized by the US altogether if need be. Below we look at the importance of the island, which handles around 90 per cent of Iran’s oil exports and why it has caught the president’s attention. Kharg is located 16 miles from the coast of Iran in the northern end of the Gulf, a rocky outlet measuring less than eight square miles with a population of around 8,000.
Also known as ‘Forbidden Island’, it is northwest of the Strait of Hormuz, the strategically important shipping route that Iran has effectively closed to pile pressure on the US as the war drags on. Iran exports 90 per cent of its crude via Kharg, which makes it a key target given the soaring fuel prices the conflict sparked. With this in mind, Tehran has fortified the island with additional surface-to-air missiles and laid traps including anti-personnel and anti-armour mines in the waters surrounding it, CNN has reported, citing people familiar with US intelligence.
Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has largely come to a halt since the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) took “complete control” of the major waterway earlier this year. Global supply chains have been severely affected and experts have warned of a devastating economic impact across the world if it continues. Oil prices surged to well over $100 a barrel since the war began, and the IRGC has warned that it could reach $200 if hostilities escalate.
Not only would Trump respond in kind, but such action would end Iranian oil exports for months to come, again leaving salaries unpaid.” It was reported in March that US administration officials had discussed seizing Kharg Island, according to Axios, but this would present a number of practical challenges. While US forces could likely take Kharg quite quickly, analysts say that an occupation is more likely to expand and prolong the war than it is to deliver a decisive victory or leverage in negotiations. A former commander of the US Central Command, Joseph Votel, told TWZ.com in June that while only 800 to 1,000 troops would be needed on Kharg Island, they would require logistical backup that would need protection as well.
Votel said that US troops would be very vulnerable and doubted that taking the island would provide any particular tactical advantage. It would be "kind of an odd thing to do... But we could certainly do it if we had to," he said.
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