President Donald Trump Orders Strikes on Iran's Kharg Island Oil Facilities

President Donald Trump authorized military strikes on Iran's Kharg Island, a critical five-mile-long coral island in the Persian Gulf that serves as the primary processing hub for Iran's oil exports.

“Tehran claims the US attacked it from the UAE as Iran war enters its third week Tehran claims the US attacked it from the UAE as Iran war enters its third week DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran urged people Saturday to evacuate the Middle East’s busiest port and two others in the United Arab Emirates, openly threatening a neighboring country’s non-U”

Associated Press News

Trump claimed the US strikes had 'totally demolished' most of the island during an interview with NBC News, even suggesting his military might hit the site 'a few more times just for fun'.

Associated Press News

The president attempted to justify the targeting by claiming he had avoided striking oil and energy infrastructure 'for reasons of decency', insisting that only military targets had been hit.

However, this decision represented a significant escalation in the US-Israeli operation against Iran, which had largely left Kharg Island untouched during its first two weeks of military action.

The strikes on Kharg Island triggered severe global market disruption as the strategic location of the facility through which 90% of Iran's oil exports flow created immediate supply chain chaos.

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most important waterways through which about a fifth of international oil supplies usually travel, has been all but closed since the start of the crisis.

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This has resulted in oil prices topping $100 per barrel for the first time since Russia's invasion of Ukraine four years ago, causing fuel costs to increase worldwide and propelling shares in major oil companies to all-time highs.

The average US fuel price hit $3.70 per gallon on Sunday, up 62 cents from a month prior, prompting public frustration and economic hardship for consumers globally.

Iran vowed immediate and severe retaliation for the attacks on Kharg Island, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi explicitly threatening to target US companies and their regional facilities if Iranian energy infrastructure is further struck.

Araghchi stated that 'if Iranian facilities are targeted, our forces will target facilities of American companies in the region or companies in which the United States has shares' while insisting Iran would 'definitely respond to these attacks, while at the same time acting with caution so that densely populated areas are not targeted'.

The Iranian response capability has reportedly caught the Trump Administration off guard, with former US officials and military experts noting that Iranian forces had effectively used intelligence, lessons from Russia, satellite imagery and proximity to hit US bases, energy facilities and other strategic targets across the Gulf.

The strikes on Kharg Island marked a dangerous escalation that has drawn warnings from within Trump's own administration about the potential for wider conflict.

David Sacks, Trump's AI and crypto tsar and a close White House adviser, publicly called for the US to 'find the off-ramp' in its conflict with Iran, stating 'This is a good time to declare victory and get out.'

Insider

Sacks specifically raised concerns about the consequences of further attacks on Iranian energy infrastructure, including the prospect of nuclear war, noting 'You are seeing a faction of people, I would say largely but not exclusively in the Republican Party, who want to escalate the war.'

Meanwhile, Trump attempted to play down the risk of sustained high fuel prices, claiming 'they'll go lower than they were before' and arguing 'there's so much oil, gas – there's so much out there,' despite evidence to the contrary and market analyst warnings that the situation could dramatically worsen without intervention.

The regional impact of the Kharg Island strikes has extended beyond Iran to neighboring countries, with Iran openly threatening the United Arab Emirates for the first time by urging people to evacuate Middle East's busiest port and two others.

“Senator Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, on Sunday joined some of his colleagues across the aisle in criticizing Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair Brendan Carr, who threatened to revoke broadcaster licenses over their news coverage regarding the Iran War”

Newsweek

Tehran claimed the US had used 'ports, docks and hideouts' in the UAE to launch strikes on Kharg Island, though it provided no evidence for this accusation.

Newsweek

While no attack materialized on Dubai's Jebel Ali port or the Khalifa port in Abu Dhabi, debris from an intercepted Iranian drone sparked a fire at a third port in Fujairah.

Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi specifically claimed the US attacked from locations in Ras Al-Khaimah and 'a place very close to Dubai,' calling this dangerous.

The UAE responded diplomatically, with a presidential adviser stating the country has the right to defend itself but 'still prioritizes reason and logic, and continues exercising restraint,' highlighting the complex geopolitical tensions in the region.