The Island at the Heart of Iran’s War Machine
A view of the Kharg Island oil terminal in the Persian Gulf, March 12, 2017. (Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Kharg Island is the centerpiece of Iran’s energy industry, which is why the U.S. and Israel are debating whether to incapacitate or even seize the island.
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In the northern Persian Gulf, just 16 miles off Iran’s coast, sits Kharg Island, and its fate in the coming weeks could play a crucial role in the U.S.-Israel war with Iran.
Middle East states and colonial powers have battled over this strategic strip of land for millennia. The Dutch, British, Arabs, and Persians coveted Kharg Island, which is about half the size of Manhattan, because of its importance as a choke point in one of the world’s most important waterways. Since seizing power in 1979, Tehran’s theocracy has made Kharg the centerpiece of its energy industry, and export terminals there ship 80 to 90 percent of Iran’s total crude-oil sales.
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