Trump released footage: US attacked island through which Iran exports almost all its oil

(Patria) - US President Donald Trump released footage of last night's US attacks on Iranian military targets on Kharg Island in the northern Persian Gulf.

The footage shows strikes on a military base, including attacks on the airbase runway, as well as on several other locations on the island.

According to available information, targets also included anti-aircraft defense systems and possible positions of missile systems used by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

Last night, Trump announced on the social network Truth Social that the US military carried out "one of the most powerful airstrikes in the history of the Middle East" and attacked Kharg Island, which serves as a terminal for almost all of Iran's oil exports.

"A few moments ago, the US Central Command carried out one of the most powerful bomb attacks in the history of the Middle East and completely destroyed all military targets on the Iranian jewel, Kharg Island," Trump wrote.

He also said he decided not to attack the oil infrastructure on the island.

"I decided not to destroy the oil infrastructure on the island. However, if Iran or anyone else does anything to impede the free and safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, I will immediately reconsider that decision," Trump stated.

He called on Iran to lay down its arms and "save what is left of their country, and there is not much left of it".

Kharg Island, through which about 90% of Iran's oil exports pass, is considered the most sensitive economic target in Iran.

Kharg is a coral island about eight kilometers long in the Persian Gulf, about 43 kilometers from the Iranian coast. Oil pipelines bringing oil from fields in the central and western parts of Iran terminate here.

The terminal was originally built by the American oil company Amoco, and Iran took it over during the revolution in 1979.

Most of the Iranian coast is too shallow for the largest oil tankers, but Kharg is located near deep water. Satellite images show large loading docks extending from the eastern side of the island.

Typically, between 1.3 and 1.6 million barrels of oil pass through Kharg daily. However, Iran increased quantities to about three million barrels per day in mid-February, according to data from the investment bank JP Morgan, in anticipation of a possible US-led attack.

Footage has now been published by President Donald J. Trump showing today’s strikes against Iranian military targets on Kharg Island in the Northern Persian Gulf, which acts as a port hub for the export of up to 90% of oil products leaving Iran. In the footage, strikes can be… pic.twitter.com/WH3iWw74sE

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) March 14, 2026

An additional 18 million barrels are stored on the island as a strategic reserve.

"The destruction of Kharg or damage to the export terminal carries the risk of causing a long-term surge in oil prices that would not subside quickly," warned Lynette Nusbacher, a former British military intelligence officer, a few days ago.

Israel did not attack it even during last year's twelve-day war, and the complex infrastructure could take years to repair.

"Kharg Island is so important to the Iranian economy that destroying its facilities would mean abandoning any idea of waging war to create a better future for Iran," Nusbacher points out.

According to her, this would deprive the future Iranian regime of key oil revenues.

An attempt to capture the island, given its size, would likely require a large and prolonged operation, significantly larger than a typical special forces action.

Although a US takeover of the island would theoretically give Washington strong leverage over Tehran, Neil Quilliam from the London-based Chatham House think tank believes such a move would likely have the opposite effect.

"If the US occupied the island, Iran's oil industry would be divided. Iran could produce oil but could not export it, while the US could not produce it. This would push markets into complete chaos, it would be a real stalemate," concluded the analyst.