President Donald Trump threatened new strikes on Iran’s Kharg Island oil hub unless Tehran halts attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, a warning that raised the stakes for global shipping and oil prices amid a war already disrupting energy supplies.
Trump coupled the ultimatum with a social media post saying the United States had “totally obliterated” military targets on Kharg, which handles roughly 90% of Iran’s crude exports and sits about 483 kilometers northwest of the strait. He said U.S. strikes did not hit oil infrastructure but warned that “should Iran, or anyone else, do anything to interfere with the Free and Safe Passage of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz, I will immediately reconsider this decision.” He added that Iran had no ability to defend against U.S. attacks.
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Iran’s armed forces responded that any U.S. strike on the country’s oil and energy facilities would prompt retaliatory attacks on regional installations belonging to oil companies cooperating with Washington, Iranian media reported. The semi-official Fars news agency said more than 15 explosions were heard on Kharg during U.S. raids, targeting air defenses, a naval base and airport facilities but causing no damage to pipelines, terminals or storage tanks.
Markets watched closely for evidence of disruption at Kharg’s sprawling export complex, where even minor damage could tighten already volatile global supply. Trump said the U.S. Navy will “soon” begin escorting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that carries about 20% of the world’s fossil energy supplies.
The fighting has rippled far beyond the Gulf. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it carried out additional attacks on Israel in coordination with Lebanon’s Hezbollah, according to the Tasnim news agency. The Israeli military said its air force struck more than 200 targets in western and central Iran over the past day, including ballistic missile launchers, air-defense systems and weapons production sites.
U.S. forces also suffered losses. The U.S. military on Friday confirmed all six crew members aboard a refueling aircraft that crashed in western Iraq were dead.
The war, which began Feb. 28 with massive U.S. and Israeli bombardments of Iran, has quickly widened into a regional conflict with broad consequences for energy and stock markets. In addition to missile and drone attacks on Israel and U.S.-aligned Gulf states, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has sought to disrupt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Lebanon has become a flashpoint, with Israel and Hezbollah exchanging heavy strikes in and around Beirut.
Despite the risks at sea, Iran has kept exporting crude. Satellite imagery reviewed by TankerTrackers.com showed multiple very large crude carriers loading at Kharg on Wednesday. Iranian crude shipments ranged between 1.1 million and 1.5 million barrels per day from Feb. 28 to Wednesday, the service said.
Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, vowed in his first public remarks Thursday to keep the Strait of Hormuz shut and urged neighboring countries to close U.S. bases on their soil or risk being attacked. European powers are scrambling to protect shipping; France has consulted European, Asian and Gulf Arab partners over a plan to assemble warships to escort tankers through the strait, French officials said.
The human toll is mounting. After nearly two weeks of war, 2,000 people have been killed — most in Iran, but many in Lebanon and a growing number in the Gulf. Several million people have been displaced. As Israeli airstrikes pounded Beirut’s suburbs, Lebanon’s interior minister said authorities were unable to accommodate the hundreds of thousands seeking refuge in the capital.
Trump, who previously suggested the conflict would last only weeks, declined to offer an end date. “I can’t tell you that,” he told reporters. “I mean, I have my own idea, but what good does it do? It’ll be as long as it’s necessary.” The immediate test for markets and maritime security will be whether U.S. escort operations begin and whether either side targets the oil infrastructure that underpins global supply.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
