US Targets Military on Iran’s Kharg Island Demanding Opening of Hormuz

The U.S. military launched strategic bombing on Iran’s Kharg Island, the home of Iran’s oil export industry. In a posting on social media, Donald Trump announced on Friday evening the attack while saying this time it had been limited to military targets, while also demanding free and safe passage in the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump called it “one of the most powerful bombing raids in the history of the Middle East,” while saying that “Iran has no ability to defend anything we want to attack.” He reported that the U.S. “totally obliterated every military target” on the island.

A small island only about five miles in size, it is located in the northern Persian Gulf near Kuwait and serves as the export terminal for the vast majority of Iran’s oil. Since the start of the bombing two weeks ago, Iran had reportedly also opened a southern terminal and was pumping out crude at record levels.

Kharg is located about 15 miles off the coast of the Iranian mainland and about 300 miles north of the Strait of Hormuz. Reports indicated Iran had increased the pace of loading at the terminal in recent days. Shadow tankers and those heading to China were believed to be loading and making their way through the Strait of Hormuz.

”For reasons of decency,” Trump writes, “I have chosen not to wipe out the oil infrastructure on the island. However, should Iran, or anyone else, do anything to interfere with the free and safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, I will immediately reconsider this decision.”

Centcom or the Pentagon has not yet released further details on the strikes and how they were executed. Earlier in the day, Pete Hegseth had said the U.S. would be intensifying its assaults on targets in Iran. Centcom highlighted that B-2 stealth bombers had been deployed to conduct a mission “delivering long-range fire to not only eliminate the threat from the Iranian regime today, but also eliminate their ability to rebuild in the future.”

Speculation had been building on whether the U.S. or Israel would target Kharg Island. So far, reports are that it had not been targeted during the operations. An unconfirmed story said that the Trump administration was contemplating a series of special forces operations inside Iran, potentially including a raid to seize Kharg Island, according to Axios. Today, The Wall Street Journal reported that a Marine Expeditionary Unit had been dispatched from its base in Japan to join the forces in the region and would be bringing additional sophisticated aircraft to join the forces.

Hegseth said at the Friday morning briefing that the U.S. did not have definitive information that Iran was mining the Strait of Hormuz. It was highlighted that Iranian and possibly Chinese ships were making the transit, while Hegseth said the only thing stopping ships was Iran’s firing missiles, which he said would soon be stopped.

Financial pressure has been building, and concerns over the global economy are rising as oil hovers around the $100 a barrel level and is expected to continue to climb. The Trump administration is taking as many steps as it can to slow the price rise, including a release from the U.S. strategic reserves. It also announced a 30-day waiver of sanctions to permit Russian oil loaded and at sea to be sold.

Reopening the Strait of Hormuz is critical, however, due to the volumes that come from the region and the psychological impact. The Trump administration is saying it is a temporary disruption, saying prices will quickly fall and that the short-term pressure is acceptable to achieve its long-term goals for the region.