Trump Reportedly Wants to Occupy Kharg Island to Pressure Iran in the Strait of Hormuz
US President Donald Trump is reportedly considering a plan to occupy or blockade Iran’s Kharg Island. The occupation of Kharg Island aims to pressure Iran into reopening the Strait of Hormuz. “We need about a month to further weaken Iran with attacks, seize the island, and then control them and use it for negotiations,” said one source, according to a report by US media outlet Axios, as cited by Al Jazeera on Friday (20/3/2029). US and Israeli strikes on the island, which is the centre of Iran’s oil exports amounting to 90%, targeted military installations; however, a ground invasion would place US troops within range of Iranian attacks. The US military has approved the deployment of additional forces to the region amid the war against Iran. “If [Trump] decides to carry out a coastal invasion, it will happen. But that decision has not yet been made,” a senior Trump administration official told Axios, regarding plans to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Trump previously stated that the US military had bombed military targets on Iran’s Kharg Island, which handles almost all of Iran’s crude oil exports. Trump threatened to attack the island’s oil infrastructure. “The US Central Command carried out one of the most devastating bombing attacks in Middle Eastern history and completely destroyed every MILITARY target on Iran’s crown jewel, Kharg Island,” Trump said on social media, as reported by AFP on Saturday (14/3). Iran’s Armed Forces threatened to attack US-related oil infrastructure after Trump claimed that Washington forces had bombed Kharg Island, which handles nearly all of Tehran’s crude oil exports. Iran’s Al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, as reported by AFP on Saturday (14/3), stated that oil and energy infrastructure belonging to companies cooperating with the US would be “immediately destroyed and turned into piles of ash” if Iranian energy facilities are attacked. The statement, reported by Fars and Tasnim news agencies, was a “response to the statement” previously made by Trump regarding US attacks that had “destroyed” military targets on Kharg Island.