Iran's Kharg Island: The Untouched Target That Could Shatter Global Economies

TEHRAN — Various locations across Iran have been subjected to US-Israeli air strikes, yet one particularly strategically important location has remained untouched: Kharg Island.

The island, through which 90 per cent of Iran’s crude oil exports flow, represents the most economically sensitive target within the country. Experts have warned that bombing or capturing this location would likely cause global oil prices to surge dramatically, effectively halting Iran’s entire daily crude oil exports.

“We might see the $120 per barrel prices we saw on Monday rise to $150 if Kharg is attacked,” stated Neil Quilliam from the Chatham House think tank. “This is far too vital for global energy markets.”

Despite the US having struck approximately 5,000 targets within and around Iran, it has thus far refrained from bombing the country’s oil infrastructure. This restraint reflects concerns about Iran retaliating by closing the Strait of Hormuz to tanker traffic, a move that has kept oil prices elevated above $100 per barrel.

The Israeli Air Force did strike two oil refineries and two depots on Saturday, with the strikes plunging Tehran into darkness, described by some residents as “apocalyptic” due to thick black smoke blanketing the capital. The US reportedly disapproved of these strikes, and no further military operations against oil facilities have since been launched.

Kharg, a five-mile-long coral island situated in the Persian Gulf 27 miles offshore from the mainland, serves as the collection point for pipelines from Iran’s central and western oil fields. Originally developed by American oil conglomerate Amoco, the island was seized by Iran during the 1979 revolution.