Kharg Island is key to Iran's oil exports. Targeting it carries major risks

Key Points:

• Kharg Island, a crucial terminal for Iran's oil exports, has become a strategic focus in the ongoing conflict involving the U.S. and Israel, with potential strikes or invasion threatening to severely reduce Iran's oil revenue and escalate regional tensions.
• A U.S. occupation of Kharg Island would place American forces within close missile and drone range of Iran's coast, heightening the risk of intensified retaliatory attacks on Gulf Arab infrastructure and further increasing global oil prices.
• Other strategically important islands near the Strait of Hormuz, such as Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunb islands—disputed territories between Iran and the UAE—and Qeshm Island, home to a key desalination plant, could also be targeted amid the conflict.
• Despite U.S. strikes in March that targeted military assets on Kharg Island, Iran continues to control the Strait of Hormuz and maintain oil exports, primarily to China, while the U.S. has deployed thousands of troops to the region to counter Iranian influence.
• The conflict's impact on oil infrastructure and supply routes in the Persian Gulf threatens to disrupt global oil markets and economies, especially given the vital role these islands and the Strait of Hormuz play in international energy trade.