The administration of US President Donald Trump is studying plans to occupy or blockade Iran’s Khark Island in order to force the Islamic republic to restore shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Axios sources reported this.
Khark Island. Photo: European Union / EPA
As journalists note, 90% of the Islamic republic’s oil exports pass through Khark, which is located 24 kilometers off the Iranian coast. The US has already carried out strikes on the island, but Trump stressed that the targets were military sites rather than oil infrastructure. Iranian authorities said the fuel facilities were not damaged.
According to Axios sources, an operation to seize the island could prove more costly for US forces than the current fighting. Therefore, it could begin only after the US further weakens Iran’s military potential in the Strait of Hormuz area.
“We need about a month to further weaken the Iranians with strikes, take the island, and then grab them by the balls and use that in negotiations,” one of the publication’s sources said.
In addition, such an operation would require a larger US military presence in the region. According to Axios, three US Marine units are already heading to the Middle East. The White House and the Pentagon are also considering sending additional troops beyond the forces already deployed in the near future, one source said.
At the same time, Axios notes that despite the island’s importance to Iran’s oil industry, there is no guarantee that seizing it would push Tehran toward peace on American terms.
If the US does take this step, Iran could “cut off the flow of oil from the other end,” since Washington does not control oil production in the Islamic republic, retired US Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery said.
The risks of this operation are out of proportion to its uncertain outcome, the military officer added. In his view, the most realistic scenario is to escort tankers with destroyers and aircraft, without the need for an invasion.
The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow waterway through which about a quarter of the world’s seaborne oil trade and a fifth of liquefied natural gas supplies pass. After the start of the war by Israel and the US against Iran, shipping through it nearly came to a halt. The Islamic republic is attacking all ships attempting to pass through this route.