"There are big risks" Trump apparently wants to occupy the Iranian oil island of Kharg
Trump is determined to break the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. According to a media report, the US President is now even considering occupying the important oil island of Kharg in the Persian Gulf. The move would be risky.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- According to a media report, US President Trump is considering occupying the Iranian island of Kharg in order to break the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
- Almost all Iranian oil exports are handled via the island in the Persian Gulf.
- The USA already attacked the island last week, but only engaged military targets. The oil facilities remained undamaged.
The USA is trying by all means to break the blockade of the important Strait of Hormuz. In order to achieve this goal, the Trump administration is now apparently considering occupying or at least blockading the Iranian island of Kharg. This was reported by the US news portal "Axios", citing four insiders.
According to the report, US ground troops could find themselves in the line of fire for the first time in the conflict. A senior official told Axios: "He (Trump, editor's note) wants the Strait of Hormuz to remain open. If he has to take Kharg Island to do that, he will. If he decides to invade via the coast, that will happen. But that decision has not yet been made."
"Economic blow for the regime"
Kharg is a coral island about eight kilometers long in the Persian Gulf, about 26 kilometers from the mainland, and an important transshipment point for Iran. Up to 90 percent of the country's oil exports are handled there.
According to the report, US President Donald Trump is fond of the idea of simply occupying the island, as this would be an "economic blow to the regime". The loss of the oil island would deprive Tehran of important financial inflows. "There are big risks. There are great opportunities. The president is not ready yet, and we are not saying he will be," said one of the officials.
Previous attacks have spared oil facilities
Kharg was largely spared attacks by the US and Israel in the first two weeks of the war. Last week, however, the US bombed around 90 military targets on the island, although the oil export facilities remained unscathed. US President Donald Trump warned that he would reconsider the previous policy of not attacking oil facilities if Iran or other countries "do anything" to obstruct the safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz.
Should the US attempt to capture the Kharg, this could put ground troops at risk for the first time. According to the report, such an operation is unlikely to be launched until the US military has weakened Iran's military capabilities around the Strait of Hormuz. "We need about a month to further weaken the Iranians with air strikes, take the island and then have it in hand to use for negotiations," Axios quotes another source as saying.
