U.S. forces have carried out "large-scale" strikes on Kharg Island, a critical hub ofIran's Gulf oil operations, with the country responding by threatening to strike U.S. allies' oil facilities if any of its infrastructure is damaged.
U.S. Central Command said Saturday that naval mine storage facilities and missile storage bunkers were among targets destroyed in the "precision strike" on the island, hitting "90 Iranian military targets" while "preserving the oil infrastructure."
Kharg Island, a tiny but strategic island 15 miles off the coast of Iran in the Persian Gulf, is home to an oil terminal that ships 90% of the country's oil exports. There are alsomilitary capabilitiesthere, including air defenses and mines buried underground.
Announcing the strike in a post on Truth Social late Friday,President Donald Trumpsaid that U.S. forces had "totally obliteratedevery MILITARY targetin Iran's crown jewel, Kharg Island."
The island's oil terminal has so far been unscathed in the war, according to oil market research firm Energy Intelligence, and the president said the island's oil infrastructure was spared in Friday's attack, but could be struck down the road.
"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," Trump said, as Iran has actively interfered with shipping in the strait for several days.
Iran's Fars News Agency, which is linked to its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said on Telegram Saturday that more than 15 explosions were heard on the island during the U.S. attacks, which it said targeted air defenses, a naval base, an airport control tower and a helicopter hangar.
It said there was no damage to oil infrastructure on Kharg Island, but warned about the consequences of "any attack" on Iran's energy infrastructure.
"If this happens, all oil and gas infrastructure in the region in which the U.S. and its allies have interests will be set on fire and destroyed," Iran's armed forces said.
Iran has previously hit energy targets across the region, with a fire breaking out on Saturday following a drone attack at an oil terminal in the UAE.
Kharg Island is the "backbone" of Iran's oil trade infrastructure, according to one analyst, who said Iran earned $53 billion in net oil export revenues in 2025, around 11% of the country's annual GDP.
The island "serves as the physical hub enabling Iranian crude exports and the primary gateway for oil revenues," said Petras Katinas, a research fellow in climate, energy and defense at the Royal United Services Institute. It also allows Iran to sustain crude oil sales despite U.S. sanctions, he added, which "undermines a key U.S. foreign policy tool."
Trump's focus on Kharg Island appears to go back decades. In an interview withThe Guardiannewspaper in 1988 where Trump expressed his desire to one day be president, he said he'd be "harsh on Iran" and threaten the island.
"One bullet shot at one of our men or ships and I'd do a number on Kharg Island," he said.
When asked by Fox Radio host Brian Kilmeade in an interview on Friday whether he would take Kharg Island after being reminded of his past comments, Trump said it "was not high on the list."
"Let's say I was gonna do it, let's say I wasn't gonna do it," Trump said. "It's sort of a foolish question."
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Two U.S. officials told NBC News last weekthat Trump has privately expressed a serious interest in deploying U.S. troops inside Iran, and on Friday, three U.S. officials said that approximately 5,000 additional Marines and sailors would be deployed to the wider region to support the war effort.
Katinas said that seizing the island "would cut off Iran's oil lifeline" but require a commitment of ground troops on Iranian soil, "which this administration seems hesitant to undertake."
With shipping in the Strait of Hormuz now stopped, Iran "cannot sell it anyway," he added. "But looking ahead, seizure would give the U.S. leverage during negotiations, no matter which regime is in power after the military operation ends."
In a Saturday post on Truth Social, Trump said nations affected by the disruption, including China, France, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom, could send warships to help keep the strait open alongside U.S. forces.
Ehsan Jahaniyan, the deputy governor of Bushehr, a port city close to Kharg Island, said Saturday after the strikes that "exports, imports and the activities of companies on the island are proceeding normally."
The overnight strikes came afterIran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei,issued a fiery first public statement on Thursday, vowing to keep blocking the vital Strait of Hormuz trade route and attacking Gulf states. The written statement was read by a state television announcer.
About one-fifth of global oil supplies and one-third of fertilizers used around the world pass through the vital waterway.
Eight seafarers and shipyard workers have been killed in attacks in the past two weeks, while four are still unaccounted for, according to the International Maritime Organization.
The price of oil has since soared back above $100 a barrel, while the U.S.eased sanctions on Russian oilin a bid to stabilize markets, a move that drew criticism from Ukraine and Europe.
On Wednesday, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution condemning Iran's attacks on its neighbors and calling on Tehran to halt its threats to ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
Asked about the possibility of the U.S. Navy escorting tankers through the strait while speaking to reporters on Joint Base Andrews on Friday, Trump said, "It'll happen soon. Very soon."
Trump also said that gas prices would fall when the war ends.
"I think your gas prices, as soon as that's over, are going to come tumbling down, along with everything else. I think it's going to be — you're gonna see a very big decrease in the price of gasoline, gas, anything having to do with energy as soon as this has ended," the president said.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday dismissed the situation in theStrait of Hormuz, suggesting that the blocked strategic waterway is not a major concern.
"As the world is seeing, they are exercising sheer desperation in the Straits of Hormuz, something we're dealing with. We have been dealing with it and don't need to worry about it," Hegseth said at the Pentagon news briefing.
"We're on plan to defeat, destroy, disable all of their meaningful military capabilities at a pace the world has never seen before," he added.