A small island in the Gulf has become a flashpoint in the widening war involving Iran, the United States and Israel. Kharg Island handles almost all of Iran’s oil exports – making it a vital economic lifeline for Tehran.
As fighting intensifies and oil prices rise, the island has drawn growing attention in Washington and in global energy markets.
The eight-kilometre strip of land lies less than 25 kilometres from the Iranian coast and about 480 kilometres north of the Strait of Hormuz.
It hosts Iran’s main oil export terminal, where crude pumped by pipeline from major fields in south-west Iran – including Ahvaz, Marun and Gachsaran – is stored and loaded onto tankers bound largely for China.
Island in the crosshairs
As the conflict deepens, the island’s fate has become a topic of discussion in Washington.
The US news site Axios reported that American officials had discussed several options to increase pressure on Tehran. One possibility was securing Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium; another was taking control of Kharg Island.
“It is necessary to destroy all the energy infrastructure on Kharg Island to bring the Iranian economy to its knees,” former Israeli prime minister Yair Lapid said on Saturday in a social media post.
Energy specialists say the island’s role as an oil gateway explains why it is attracting such attention.
“Between 90 and 95 percent of Iran’s oil exports pass through Kharg Island,” Emmanuel Hache, research director at the Institute for International and Strategic Relations (IRIS), told RFI.
“Bombing this island or taking control of it would simply prevent Iran from exporting its oil.”
'If the Strait of Hormuz were to remain closed, we would face a major crisis'
Iran's oil lifeline
Iran’s oil sector generates around $50 billion a year and remains one of the country’s main sources of revenue. It is the third-largest producer in OPEC and accounts for about 4.5 percent of global oil supply.
“A large part of these resources is controlled by the Revolutionary Guards, and that finances the regime’s security and military apparatus,” Hache said. “If Iranian exports via Kharg Island are paralysed, the regime itself could be paralysed.”
Despite international sanctions, Iran still produces around 4 million barrels of oil a day and exports on average between 1 million and 1.5 million barrels daily, according to data from energy analytics firm Kpler.
But in the weeks before the current strikes began, Tehran sharply increased shipments from Kharg.
Exports rose to more than 3 million barrels a day between 15 and 20 February – nearly triple the usual level – according to a note by US investment bank JP Morgan that was cited by Reuters.
The Kharg terminal can also store vast quantities of crude. Kpler analysts estimate the island’s storage capacity at around 30 million barrels, with roughly 18 million barrels currently held there – the equivalent of about 10 to 12 days of Iran’s normal oil exports.
Kharg’s strategic role is not new. A declassified CIA note from 1984 described the island’s oil installations as “the most vital” part of Iran’s petroleum system, essential to the country’s economy and its war effort against Iraq.
During the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s, the island was repeatedly targeted during what became known as the “tanker war” – when both sides attacked energy exports. The facilities were damaged but quickly rebuilt.
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Escalation risks
For now, Kharg Island has been spared the latest wave of strikes.
“The United States and Israel may not have wanted to bomb Kharg Island in order not to worsen tensions on the oil markets,” Hache explained. “Every time oil infrastructure in the Gulf is hit, prices rise.”
Even so, shipping activity around Kharg has continued. Bloomberg reported that supertankers were still loading crude at Kharg earlier in the week and that some Iranian tankers had crossed the Strait of Hormuz, even as shipping through the vital waterway slowed sharply.
Tanker-tracking data suggests Iran has continued exporting crude despite the fighting. Maritime intelligence company TankerTrackers reported that shipments totalled roughly 13.7 million barrels in the first days of March, while Kpler estimated exports of about 16.5 million barrels during the first 11 days of the month.
Kharg could also become a strategic military position in the conflict.
“We could even imagine the United States protecting part of its fleet around the island,” Hache said. “It could serve as a kind of shield for the American navy.”
But striking the island could trigger a much wider escalation in the region.
Israeli attacks during the conflict have already hit Iranian infrastructure, raising fears that energy facilities could also become targets.
Washington has said it does not intend to target Iran’s energy infrastructure directly, although analysts question whether that restraint would hold if the war intensifies.
“The Americans and the Israelis have no interest in destroying oil installations,” energy economist Jean-Pierre Favennec told RFI.
“The Iranians could retaliate by attacking the oil infrastructure of other Gulf countries.”
This article has been adapted from the original version in French by RFI's Aurore Lartigue.
