A handout satellite image made available by Copernicus, the European Union’s Earth Observation Program, shows Kharg island, Iran, on March 7. U.S. military officials said the United States conducted airstrikes on the site Tuesday morning. Photo courtesy Copernicus
The U.S. military attacked locations on Kharg Island — a key port that exports the vast majority of Iran’s oil — on Tuesday, unnamed U.S. military sources told media outlets.
The sources told The Washington Post, CNN and NBC News that the airstrikes targeted military infrastructure, including runways, bunkers, storage facilities and air defense systems. The strikes didn’t hit any oil infrastructure.
Kharg Island is about 15 miles south of the Iranian mainland through which about 90% of the country’s oil exports pass. It’s a critical piece of Iran’s economy and a full attack on the oil infrastructure there could hinder Iran’s ability to pay its military.
In a Truth Social post on March 13, President Donald Trump said U.S. Central Command had “totally obliterated every military target in Iran’s crown jewel, Kharg Island.”
Sources told The Post that Monday’s strikes took place around 2 a.m. and involved areas hit in the March attack. There were no U.S. troops on the ground on Kharg Island.
Vice President JD Vance said airstrikes on Kharg Island don’t reflect “a change in strategy” concerning Trump’s 8 p.m. deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to U.S. traffic, CNN reported.
Concerning the deadline, Trump leveled a new threat against Tehran if they miss the deadline in a Tuesday morning post on Truth Social.
“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” he wrote. “I don’t want that to happen but it probably will.”
He had previously threatened to target civilian infrastructure, including power plants and bridges, if the strait wasn’t reopened to the United States and its allies.
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has continued to be a point of leverage for Iran six weeks into the conflict. U.S. crude oil rose to more than $115.96 per barrel on Tuesday morning. It was about a $4 per barrel increase over the course of four hours.
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President Donald Trump makes a statement on Iran from the White House Press Briefing Room in Washington on Monday. Trump recounted the rescue of a service member from inside Iran and said that the country could be “taken out in one night.” Photo by Jim Lo Scalzo/UPI | License Photo
