The US military on Friday hit Iranian military bases on Kharg Island, a small island located on the northern Persian Gulf. President Donald Trump claimed that the United States Central Command carried out one of the most powerful bombing raids in the history of the Middle East, “totally obliterating” every military target on Iran’s Kharg Island.
In a post on Truth Social on 13 March 2026, Trump said the strikes, which he directed, left the island’s vital oil infrastructure untouched “for reasons of decency”. He warned that any Iranian interference with shipping through the Strait of Hormuz would prompt an immediate reconsideration, adding, “Iran has NO ability to defend anything that we want to attack.”
Kharg Island, a small rocky outcrop in the Persian Gulf off Iran’s south-western coast, serves as the country’s primary oil export terminal, handling roughly 90 per cent of its crude shipments. The facility has long been regarded as Iran’s “oil lifeline” and a strategic chokepoint in global energy markets.
Media outlets reported explosions on the island following the strikes. Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency, citing sources, said more than 15 blasts were heard. The state media said that oil infrastructure remained undamaged, confirming Trump assertion of targeting only military bases.
As per Fars News Agency, US strikes targeted the Joushan naval base, the airport control tower, and the helicopter hangar on the island. The report claimed that Trump’s claim of destroying Kharg Island’s defences is false, adding that defences were reactivated an hour after the attack.
President Trump later shared footage on Truth Social purporting to show the airstrikes.
The operation forms part of the wider US-Israeli military campaign against Iran, which began on 28 February 2026. Oil prices have surged more than 40 per cent since the conflict started, exacerbated by Iran’s effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of global oil supplies normally pass.
Iran’s armed forces and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued sharp warnings of retaliation. In statements carried by state media, including Fars and Tasnim, they declared that any further attack on Iranian energy facilities would trigger the immediate destruction of all oil, energy and economic infrastructure of oil companies across the region that have American stock shares or cooperate with America.
Iranian sources told Tasnim News, “If America makes a mistake, all oil facilities and energy infrastructure in the region in which Americans have stakes will be among our legitimate targets. If a mistake is made, all oil facilities and energy infrastructure in the region in which Americans have stakes will be among our legitimate targets and will definitely be destroyed.”
The Tasnim report also published names and maps of some potential bases in Gulf that may be hit by Iran, which includes Al Hosn Gas Field and Facility in UAE, Ras Laffan Refinery in Qatar, Q-Chem Petrochemical and Chevron Mesaieed Holding in Qatar, SAMREF Refinery in Yanbu of Saudi Arabia, and Sadara Chemical Complex in Al Jubail of Saudi Arabia. The report added that the list will be updated.
The Revolutionary Guard claimed that they will hit such targets and turn them into a pile of ashes”, responding to Trump’s statements. Earlier, Iranian officials had described any strike on Kharg Island as a “red line” that would provoke a wave of attacks on regional energy assets.
