Multiple news outlets reported on Tuesday morning Washington time that locals spotted explosions at Kharg Island, a Persian Gulf site that Iran uses for the vast majority of its oil exports — a significant percentage of which go to China.
The Washington, DC, website Axios reported, citing an anonymous source, that the American military had indeed conducted strikes on Kharg Island, but no on-the-record sources have confirmed the claim at press time. If true, it would not be the first time during the current conflict that the United States struck the island, though the kinetic action in March reportedly hit only military assets protecting the island, leaving the oil infrastructure intact. Reports at press time do not specify what, if anything, was destroyed on Kharg Island on Tuesday.
The reports of explosions follow a series of dramatic messages from President Donald Trump on Sunday and Monday, establishing a deadline of 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time for Iran to agree to a ceasefire and resolution of the current conflict or face, in Trump’s words, total destruction of their “civilization.” While it is not entirely clear who is leading Iran since the demise of “supreme leader” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on February 28 — his son, the new “supreme leader” Mojtaba Khamenei, has yet to appear in public since Iranian state media declared him the leader — spokesmen for the Iranian armed forces and Foreign Ministry have not indicated any willingness to negotiate with the United States.
The Emirati newspaper The National reported on Tuesday morning that “blasts have been heard” nationwide in Iran in anticipation of the deadline, including “reports of blasts” on Kharg Island. It did not provide any other details on the situation. The Times of Israel reported similarly — notably citing the Mehr News Agency, and Iranian state propaganda site.
Some unverified videos of smoke clouds appeared on social media sites, claiming to be footage of Kharg Island on Tuesday, but Breitbart News could not confirm that this was the case. Jordan’s Roya News reproduced some of the footage.
Axios added to the reports claiming “an unidentified senior U.S. official” could confirm that America was responsible for the explosions. Axios previously reported on March 20, again citing anonymous “sources with knowledge,” that President Trump was considering blockading Kharg Island to make it impossible for Iran to export oil, or occupying it completely.
Kharg Island is a critical point in the Iranian economy due to Iran’s geographical inability to load tankers on much of its shoreline. Instead, it parks its tankers on the island where the oil is pumped out of the mainland and into tankers for shipping. Reports indicate that as many as 90 percent of Iranian oil exports, most of those going to China, are processed on Kharg Island.
The U.S. military has already extensively bombed the island. On March 13, the military hit over 90 targets on Kharg, though none of them civilian oil infrastructure. Trump specifically declared following that engagement that he had chosen to avoid targeting the oil facilities there, but has refused to rule out attacks doing so in the future.
NBC News discovered that Trump has discussed Kharg as a critical weak point to exploit in any future war with Iran as early as 1988, when he suggested in an interview that, if he were in power and Iran attacked the United States, “I’d do a number on Kharg Island; I’d go in and take it.”
The United States launched Operation Epic Fury on February 28, intended to erode the Iranian government’s ability to pose a threat to its neighbors and the United States. Under the current Islamist regime, Iran is the world’s premier state sponsor of terrorism, pouring billions of dollars into terrorist groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah, the Yemeni Houthis, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), Kata’ib Hezbollah of Iraq, and others. Operation Epic Fury and its Israel Defense Forces (IDF) counterparts have eliminated dozens of senior Iranian leaders, both military and civilian, leading Trump to conclude on multiple occasions that the regime has effectively been changed given the total removal of personnel.
President Trump announced on Easter Sunday plans to destroy the state of Iran, proclaiming, “praise be to Allah.”
“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell — JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah,” he declared on his website, Truth Social.
During remarks to reporters on Tuesday, Trump expressed frustration that the remaining Iranian leaders were not negotiating in good faith. The comments were a marked contrast to his claims in late March that the alleged “NEW, AND MORE REASONABLE, REGIME” was making “great progress” with his negotiators.
“For 47 years, they’ve been bullshitting other presidents, and they haven’t done the job,” Trump complained on Monday. “And people are living in hell. You live in that country; they’re living in hell. No, I think that 47 years of this stuff is long enough.”
“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” Trump announced on his website on Tuesday morning. “I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.”
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