In an interview with the Financial Times published on Monday, Trump emphasized: 'We might take Kharg Island, or we might not.' “We have a lot of options.”

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — President Donald Trump has publicly contemplated the seizure of Iran’s Kharg Island oil terminal in the Persian Gulf. With 2,500 US Marines already in the region and an equivalent number on the way,  Despite signs of progress in the initial ceasefire negotiations, both the United States and Israel continued their attacks on the Islamic Republic on Monday. In an interview with the Financial Times published on Monday, Trump emphasized: 'We might take Kharg Island, or we might not.' “We have a lot of options.”

Meanwhile CNN has reported that the Trump administration has been considering using US troops to seize the tiny island in the north-eastern Persian Gulf — an economic lifeline for Iran, handling around 90% of the country's crude oil exports — in order to coerce the Iranians into reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

All options on the table.

On Sunday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told NBC News' Meet the Press that the president was keeping all options on the table. ‘What could happen with Kharg Island?  We'll see.” At a press conference, General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, announced that the US had already bombed over 90 targets on Kharg Island, including air defences, a naval base, and storage facilities for mines.

Related : Trump threatens to ‘obliterate’ Iran’s power plants if Strait of Hormuz is not reopened

An oil facility on Kharg Island in 2017.Atta Kenare / AFP via Getty Images

Impotance Kharg island 

The 'Forbidden Island', also known as Kharg Island (and sometimes spelled Khark Island), is a continental island in the Persian Gulf that belongs to Iran. Located 25 kilometres (16 miles) off the Iranian coast and 660 kilometres (410 miles) northwest of the Strait of Hormuz, the island covers an area of 1,000 square kilometres (390 square miles).

On the other hand, the sources said that Iran has also laid traps, including anti-personnel and anti-armour mines, around the island. This includes the shoreline, where US troops could stage an amphibious landing if President Donald Trump were to move forward with a ground operation.

 It is a seaport through which up to 90% of Iran's oil products are exported, and it has storage capacity for up to 30 million barrels (5 million cubic metres) of oil.Several offshore oil fields, including the Faridun, Darius, Cyrus, and Ardašir fields, are located close to the island. The city of Kharg and the Jazireh-ye Khark lighthouse are located on the island, which has its own freshwater supply. Prior to its transformation into a significant oil terminal in the 1960s, Iranian writer Jalal Al-e-Ahmad notably referred to the island as "The Orphan Pearl of the Persian Gulf."

The site was initially developed into an oil terminal during the 1960s under Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, in collaboration with the American oil company Amoco. During the Iran-Iraq War in March 2026, military installations on the island were bombed by the United States.

Agencies 

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