US President Donald Trump announced on the Truth Social social network that the US military had just carried out one of the most powerful airstrikes in the history of the Middle East.
“Moments ago US Central Command launched one of the most powerful bombing raids in the history of the Middle East and completely destroyed all MILITARY targets on Iran’s jewel, Harg Island,” Trump wrote.
“Moments ago, at my direction, the United States Central Command executed one of the most powerful bombing raids in the History of the Middle East, and totally obliterated every MILITARY target in Iran’s crown jewel, Kharg Island… Iran has NO ability to defend anything that we… pic.twitter.com/2iEzCOyA3P
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 13, 2026
He added that he had decided not to attack the oil infrastructure on the island.
“I have decided NOT to destroy the oil infrastructure on the island. However, if Iran or anyone else does anything to impede the free and safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, I will immediately reconsider that decision,” the US president said.
Trump called on Iran to lay down its arms and “save what’s left of their country, and it’s not much.”
Harg Island is a small island in the northern part of the Persian Gulf, not far from the Iranian coast, which serves as a terminal for almost all Iranian oil exports.
A key island for Iranian oil exports
The island of Hark (Kharg), through which about 90 percent of Iran’s oil exports pass, is considered the most sensitive economic target in Iran.
Hark is a coral island about eight kilometers long in the Persian Gulf, about 43 kilometers from the Iranian coast. Oil pipelines that bring oil from the fields in the central and western part of Iran end there. The terminal was originally built by the American oil company Amoco, and was taken over by Iran during the 1979 revolution, Index writes.
Much of Iran’s coast is too shallow for the largest oil tankers, but Hark is close to the deep sea. Satellite images show large loading docks extending from the eastern side of the island.
Typically, between 1.3 and 1.6 million barrels of oil per day pass through Hark. But in mid-February, Iran increased volumes to around three million barrels per day, according to investment bank JP Morgan, in anticipation of a possible US-led attack. An additional 18 million barrels are stored on the island as a safety stock.
Hark was not attacked during the Twelve Day War either
Destroying Hark or damaging the export terminal “runs the risk of causing a long-term spike in oil prices that would not abate quickly,” Lynette Nusbacher, a former British military intelligence officer, warned a few days ago. Israel did not attack it even during last year’s 12-day war, and the complex infrastructure could take years to repair.
“Hark Island is so important to Iran’s economy that destroying its facilities would mean giving up any idea of waging war to create a better future for Iran,” Nusbacher believes. This, he says, would deprive the future Iranian regime of key oil revenues.
Attempting to capture the island, given its size, would likely require a large and lengthy operation, far larger than a typical special forces operation. Although a US takeover of the islands would theoretically put Washington under pressure on Tehran, Neil Quilliam of the Chatham House Institute in London believes such a move would likely have the opposite effect.
“If the US were to occupy the island, the Iranian oil industry would be divided. Iran could produce oil, but could not export it, while the US could not produce it. It would throw the markets into complete chaos, it would be a real standstill,” the analyst concluded.
(Vijesti.ba)
