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Kharg Island targeted again: Iran’s oil hub back under attack

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US strikes hit strategic energy infrastructure in the Persian Gulf after nearly a month, raising concerns over global oil markets

Kharg Island, in the Persian Gulf, has once again become a target of US strikes after nearly a month, underscoring its central role in Iran’s oil industry and its strategic importance in the ongoing conflict.

A crucial hub for crude exports, the island had already been hit on March 13 as part of a large-scale “precision operation” conducted by US Central Command (Centcom), which targeted more than 90 military sites, including naval mine depots and missile bunkers, while deliberately avoiding oil infrastructure.

In recent hours, however, US forces have reportedly struck more than 50 additional military targets on the island, according to sources cited by The Wall Street Journal.

Located about 55 kilometers off the port of Bushehr and surrounded by unusually deep waters, Kharg Island spans just eight kilometers but hosts Iran’s main oil export terminal. Through a network of underwater pipelines and loading facilities, it channels crude from central and western oil fields to tankers bound בעיקר for Asian markets, with China among the primary buyers.

Between 1.3 and 1.6 million barrels of oil pass through the terminal daily, supported by storage facilities capable of holding tens of millions of barrels.

Its strategic value explains why the island’s النفط infrastructure has so far largely been spared direct attacks. According to Neil Quilliam, an analyst at Chatham House, speaking to The Guardian, a direct strike on the oil facilities could drive prices up to $150 per barrel, compared to around $120 at the peak of recent tensions.

Disrupting or destroying the terminal would effectively remove Iran’s entire export flow from global markets, at a time when regional production is already under strain due to instability in the Strait of Hormuz.

A potential military occupation of the island would be equally complex, requiring a large-scale deployment of forces and risking a prolonged energy deadlock. Iran could continue producing oil without the ability to export it, while US forces might control the terminal without being able to operate it, further destabilizing global markets.

Beyond its economic significance, Kharg Island also holds symbolic value for Tehran. Inhabited since ancient times and contested over centuries by regional and European powers, it became a major oil hub in the 1960s and was heavily bombed during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.

Its deep waters — among the few in the Persian Gulf capable of accommodating supertankers — still allow the docking of large vessels that transport Iran’s primary source of revenue abroad.

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