Iran warns US against invading Persian Gulf's Kharg Island

Iran’s parliament speaker has issued a stern warning to the United States against attacking Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf, amid speculation about a potential occupation of Kharg Island, which houses the country’s main oil export terminal.

Media reports, including one by Axios on March 7, suggest that the US has discussed the possibility of capturing the small island, located 25 km off Iran’s coast, from which over 90% of the country’s oil is exported.

“Any aggression against soil of Iranian islands will shatter all restraint,” Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf wrote in English on X on March 12.

“We will abandon all restraint and make the Persian Gulf run with the blood of invaders,” Ghalibaf warned, stating that the blood of American soldiers would be US President Donald Trump’s “personal responsibility.”

Since the outbreak of the US-Israeli aggression against Iran on February 28, some energy infrastructure, including the power grid, has been damaged in airstrikes, though repairs were swiftly made.

The largest attack occurred on March 7 when four fuel storage tanks and a fuel distribution centre in the capital Tehran and the adjacent metropolis of Karaj exploded in an overnight Israeli air raid.

Billowing flames and thick smoke blanketed the sky of Tehran, triggering oil-laden rain in the city the following day.

Iranian Armed Forces struck back with two separate missile and drone attacks against the Haifa refinery in Israel, which, according to Tasnim News Agency, caused damage.

The two aggressors have so far refrained from attacking Iranian oil and gas production and refining facilities, likely fearing further increases in oil prices, which are currently hovering around $100 per barrel, and fierce retaliatory strikes by Iran against Israeli and US allies’ energy infrastructure in the Persian Gulf.

An attack on Kharg Island would be a matter of life and death for Iran and could set off a major escalation between Iranian forces and US troops. Iranian officials may prefer to destroy the island’s oil installation before allowing their most important oil export terminal to fall into the hands of their archenemy.

Taking Kharg Island, which serves as a cash pipeline for Tehran, would lead to the loss of over 2mn barrels of crude oil per day from a global market already facing severe supply constraints due to disruptions in oil exports from the Persian Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz.

The Central Khatam al‑Anbiya Headquarters – Iran’s war room – warned on March 12 that the Strait of Hormuz “is undoubtedly and without a moment’s lapse under Iranian control.”

A day earlier, the headquarters’ spokesman, Ebrahim Zoulfaqari, reiterated that Iran would “never allow even a single litre of oil to pass through the Strait of Hormuz for the benefit of the US, Israel, and their hostile partners.”

Zoulfaqari warned that any oil shipment destined for the US, Israel, and their hostile partners would be seen as a “legitimate target” for Iran.

Iranian Armed Forces have been obstructing the passage of ships and tankers through the vital waterway during the conflict, targeting at least 15 vessels, the latest of which took place on March when a missile strike prevented a US-linked tanker from sailing.

Malek Shariati, a member of the Iranian parliament’s energy committee, told state television that if hostile actions continue, the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world’s energy passes, could be closed “permanently,” in a way that reopening it would take six months.

Iran has built the Jask oil terminal on the other side of the Strait of Hormuz in the Oman Sea, which has a capacity to export 1mn barrels per day and could be doubled in emergencies should exports from Kharg be disrupted.