The site is home to the country’s largest oil terminal and accounts for 90% of Iran’s crude oil exports, with China as its main destination.
On Friday (March 13, 2026), the President of the United States, Donald Trump (Republican Party), stated that the , in the Persian Gulf. Before the war, the island accounted for about 90% of Iran’s crude oil exports.
On Saturday (March 14), US Central Command said that a “precision attack” on the island had destroyed “naval mine storage facilities, missile storage bunkers, and various other military sites”. The statement added, however, that although more than 90 Iranian military targets had been hit, oil infrastructure had been preserved.
According to the Iranian news agency, linked to the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps), Iran’s oil exports continued without interruption on Saturday afternoon (14 March).
“Our weapons are the most powerful and sophisticated the world has ever known, but for reasons of decency, I have chosen NOT to destroy the island’s oil infrastructure. However, if Iran, or any other country, interferes with the free and safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, I will immediately reconsider that decision.”Trump na rede Truth Social.
WHY IS THE ISLAND IMPORTANT?
The 8 km long island is home to Iran’s largest oil terminal, where the product is stored on ships for export, with China being the main destination.
The deep waters around Kharg are deep enough for large oil tankers to dock, which is not the case in the shallower waters off the rest of Iran’s Persian Gulf coast.
Therefore, the site is considered the heart of Iran’s oil infrastructure and can carry up to 7 million barrels of oil per day. Since the 1960s, the island has functioned as a strategic point, with storage facilities and oil pipelines that connect it to some of the country’s main oil and gas fields.
Bombings or offensives against the island’s oil installations could immediately impact the global market and increase the risk of an escalation in war, according to analysis by the Financial Times.
Iran, one of the world’s largest oil producers, has for decades depended on Kharg Island for much of its maritime oil exports.
In recent years, according to , the island’s terminal now has the capacity to simultaneously load up to 10 supertankers intended for intercontinental transport. Three large energy infrastructure complexes operate in Kharg, including the Falat Iran Oil Company, considered the largest in the sector in the country.
The last time the island suffered intense attacks was during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988). At the time, Iraqi forces under the command of Saddam Hussein (1937-2006) carried out heavy bombings against the island’s oil installations, causing extensive damage. Still, Iran was able to later rebuild most of these structures.
Following Friday’s (March 13) attacks, a high-ranking official from Iran’s Oil Ministry told the The New York Times that the bombings were large-scale and destructive, and that refinery employees recorded two uninterrupted hours of explosions that shook the island, as if it were an earthquake.
On Saturday (14 March), Trump declared in an interview with NBC News that the attack on the Island had destroyed “fully” most of the place and that the US can “hit her a few more times”.
