(UNI) Iran has warned of delivering a “firm, crushing, painful and regret-inducing response” should the US dare attempt to seize or attack Kharg Island, following recent comments by US President Donald Trump about the strategic island.
Ebrahim Azizi, chairman of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, dismissing Trump’s threats as “confused and erratic” said there was no doubt Iran would respond with full force against any attempts to try and capture, or attack the tiny outcrop.
Speaking to Iranian newspaper Hamshahri on Thursday, Azizi said Tehran, and all of its territory, including Kharg Island, were fully prepared for any military confrontation.
“The level of readiness of our armed forces there is so high that I believe one of the things that may become evident in the future is precisely this maximum level of military preparedness on the island,” he said.
“With all their capabilities and strength, our armed forces stand ready.”
Located in the northern Persian Gulf, Kharg Island has long been the backbone of Iran’s oil export industry. According to trade intelligence firm Kpler, the island has storage capacity of about 31 million barrels and handled roughly 90% of Iran’s crude exports before the outbreak of the war.
As such, while plans for the US military to try and capture Kharg Island have been drawn up for months they have been continuously shelved because the operation was considered too risky, a senior Pentagon official and two administration officials told CNN.
While its seizure, or otherwise destruction of its energy infrastructure would undoubtedly deal a devastating blow to Iran’s economy, and effectively make it bankrupt, it has been cautioned that such an operation would require a substantial deployment of ground forces, and carries the risk of massive American casualties, with chances for victory also being heavily uncertain given the target’s high security cover.
As a result, both the Pentagon and the White House have treated any move against Kharg Island as an “endgame” option.
While the US military has carried out several major strikes against military facilities on the island in recent months, officials say those operations have deliberately avoided targeting Kharg Island’s critical oil infrastructure.
Trump recently suggested that he would prefer to seize the island for amplifying pressure on Tehran, though acknowledged that he was uncertain whether he had enough domestic support to go ahead with such a risky venture.
