The Trump administration is contemplating a move that could end or escalate the Iran war.
In the Persian Gulf, about 20 miles off the Iranian coast, is a small, rocky island called Kharg that could be the Trump administration’s key to victory in the war it unleashed. It could also be America’s undoing.
The island is tiny—a little less than eight square miles—and has a population of about 20,000 people, most of them oil workers. It’s also the point of departure for approximately 90 percent of Iran’s oil exports. The United States struck military targets on Kharg on March 13 and is now reportedly considering invading it.
The thinking goes something like this: Iran has extended its control over the world’s oil markets by effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway through which most Persian Gulf exports must travel. The Iranian regime has made an exception for tankers carrying its own oil, and has reportedly exported at least 16 million barrels since the war began. But other Gulf nations have been largely unable to move their oil, and the effect has been an increase in Iranian revenue as the price of crude oil goes higher. The Iranians have reinforced this outcome by targeting pipelines on the Arabian Peninsula, which bypass the Strait of Hormuz. And the Iran-allied Houthis in Yemen have the capacity, if they so choose, to shut down the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, potentially closing off the Suez Canal.
