Tehran warns regional neighbour against occupying Iranian island

Thursday March 26, 2026

A view of Iran’s Kharg Island, which hosts the country’s main crude export terminal, and which some believe could be a target for occupation by US forces, on March 2, 2026 [Handout/European Space Agency via AFP]

Iran’s parliamentary speaker has issued a stark warning from Tehran, saying intelligence indicates that “Iran’s enemies” are preparing to seize an Iranian island with backing from an unidentified country elsewhere in the region.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Wednesday that any move to occupy Iranian territory would trigger a direct response: targeted strikes on the “vital infrastructure” of the regional country that helps facilitate such an operation, though he did not name the state.

“Iranian forces are monitoring ⁠enemy movements, and ⁠if they take any step, we will ⁠attack vital ⁠infrastructure in ⁠that regional country in continuous and relentless attacks,” ‌Ghalibaf said in two separate posts on social media.

The warning comes as United States President Donald Trump has continued to insist the US is negotiating with Iran to end the war — a claim Tehran has denied — even as the White House delivered fresh threats aimed at Iran’s leadership.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Wednesday that Iran must accept defeat.

“If Iran fails to accept the reality of the current moment, if they fail to understand that they have been defeated militarily and will continue to be, President Trump will ensure they are hit harder than they have ever been hit before,” Leavitt said.

“President Trump does not bluff, and he is prepared to unleash hell,” Leavitt said.

The competing messages — talk of diplomacy paired with escalating warnings — come as the Pentagon moves additional forces toward the Gulf region. Thousands of airborne troops are being sent, adding to two US Marine contingents already en route.

US media have reported that about 2,000 soldiers from the US Army’s 82nd Airborne Division were ordered to deploy, and that the first of two Marine Expeditionary Units, traveling aboard a massive amphibious assault ship, could reach the region within days.

‘US eye on Kharg Island’

Al Jazeera’s Mohamed Vall, reporting from Tehran, said many Iranians are closely tracking the rising US military presence — ground forces as well as warships — and, in his words, “they know what it is going to lead to”.

“So right now, they are much more certain of a continuation of this war than an end to it, and they say they are preparing for it,” Vall said.

“They also are aware of the US eye on Kharg Island,” he said, noting that some interpret Ghalibaf’s earlier warning about a regional partner in an island assault as a reference to the United Arab Emirates.

“According to some people explaining what he said, he’s referring here to the United Arab Emirates, that it might be cooperating with the US and encouraging it to take Kharg Island,” Vall said.

“Iranians over the last few days have been saying that they know that if this happens, they are sure that it will be very destructive to that country, the United Arab Emirates, and also the US troops,” he said.

“Kharg is a small, exposed island that is very close to the Iranian mainland. They are threatening that if US troops land on it, that will be the thing that [Iranians] are waiting for – and that it will be very detrimental to the safety of US troops,” he added.

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency, citing an unnamed military source, reported on Wednesday that Iran could open a new front near the mouth of the Red Sea if military action occurs on “Iranian islands or anywhere else in our lands”.

According to the source, Iran has the capability to pose what it called a “credible threat” in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, the strategic passage between Yemen and Djibouti.

Tasnim later quoted an “informed source” as saying Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels stand ready to take part “if there is a need to control the Bab al-Mandeb Strait to further punish the enemy”.

In recent days, Trump has repeatedly said the US is making headway in talks with Iran. While Tehran has rejected the assertion that negotiations are underway, there are indications of cautious diplomatic activity, with regional mediators saying efforts continue behind the scenes to shuttle messages between the two sides.

The US has reportedly offered a 15-point proposal to end the fighting. An Iranian official, quoted by local media, said Tehran has presented its own five conditions for hostilities to stop.