Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export hub in the Persian Gulf, has come into focus after US President Donald Trump confirmed that American forces “obliterated” strikes targeting this island, which he called Iran’s “crown jewel”. Trump said the strike was limited to military targets even though the island hosts the main terminal that manages Iran’s oil exports. The move appears to serve as a warning that the US could potentially target the country’s energy infrastructure, something Washington had previously avoided.
Iran responded sharply. The Iranian armed forces said any strike on the country’s oil and energy infrastructure would be met with attacks on energy facilities belonging to companies that cooperate with the US in the region.
As per a report by the Hindustan Times, the attack did not hit the oil and energy facilities located there, which analysts see as a deliberate signal to Tehran.
Where is Kharg Island?
Kharg Island lies about 16 miles (26 km) off Iran’s coast and roughly 300 miles (483 km) northwest of the Strait of Hormuz. It functions as the export terminal for about 90 per cent of Iran’s oil shipments.
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Despite rising tensions in the Gulf, Tehran has continued exporting crude oil while some other Gulf producers paused shipments due to fears of Iranian attacks. Satellite images examined by TankerTrackers.com showed several very large crude oil tankers loading at Kharg Island on Wednesday.
According to the data, Iran exported between 1.1 million and 1.5 million barrels of oil per day from February 28, when the war began, until Wednesday.
Why does the island matter to Iran?
Kharg’s importance goes back decades. A declassified CIA note from 1984 described the island’s oil facilities as “the most vital” part of Iran’s petroleum system, crucial for the country’s economy and its war campaign against Iraq.
The island has extensive oil storage capacity and is linked through pipelines to several major oil and gas fields. Crude oil from the Aboozar, Forouzan and Dorood offshore fields reaches the terminal through underwater pipelines before being processed on land, stored, or shipped to global markets, citing the Iranian Ministry of Petroleum, Al Jazeera reported.
As per a report by The New York Times, Kharg also hosts key energy facilities run by Iran’s oil ministry, including the Falat Iran Oil Company, which produces around 500,000 barrels of crude oil per day. The island is home to Kharg Petrochemical Company and a large installation used for storing and exporting oil and liquefied natural gas.
In May 2025, S&P Global Commodity Insights reported that Iran expanded the terminal’s storage capacity by two million barrels after refurbishing tanks 25 and 26.
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What an attack could mean
Energy experts say the island’s vulnerability could have major consequences for global energy markets. Steven Wills, a navalist at the Centre for Maritime Strategy, told Bloomberg the facility was designed to handle about 90 per cent of Iran’s oil shipments.
If the island were seized or destroyed, he said, “it could, in theory, take out a significant ability of Iran to export oil, and that’s what they live off of.”
Petras Katinas, an energy researcher at the Royal United Services Institute, earlier told Associated Press that Kharg Island plays a central role in financing Iran’s government and military.
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Meanwhile, JPMorgan’s global commodity research team noted in an investment report that the island has long been seen as a weak point. “The island has often been viewed as a critical vulnerability, yet it has rarely been directly targeted,” the note said.
It added that a direct strike “would immediately halt the bulk of Iran’s crude exports, likely triggering severe retaliation in the Strait of Hormuz or against regional energy infrastructure.”
Kharg Island’s role as Iran’s primary export terminal dates back to the country’s oil expansion in the 1960s and 1970s, when much of Iran’s coastline was too shallow for large supertankers.
