Trump is reportedly planning a US ground operation to capture the Iranian island of Khark — Axios
US President Donald Trump is considering seizing the Iranian island of Kharg, through which 90% of the country’s oil exports pass, according to sources among US officials.
This is reported by Axios.
Trump may order the seizure of the island if oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz remain blocked, the publication’s sources say.
One of them noted that the White House chief is attracted to this idea because its implementation would lead to an “economic knockout of the regime” in Tehran, depriving it of funding.
However, a ground operation would be required to seize the island, and the Iranian military could respond to such a move with strikes on oil facilities and pipelines in the Gulf states, particularly Saudi Arabia.
“There are major risks. There are huge benefits. The President has not yet made such a decision, and we are not saying that he will,” the source told the publication. At the same time, he stressed that Trump “is not going to simply wait and allow the Iranians to dictate the pace of the conflict”.
Another source added that whilst the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz remains in place and exports from the region are restricted, Trump “will not be able to end the war, even if he wanted to”.
The White House is currently working on forming a coalition to unblock the Strait of Hormuz. The main task is to secure political commitments from other countries, whilst the question of “who will send what and when” is to be resolved later.
At the same time, according to the publication, the White House expects coalition members to send warships equipped with drones to the Strait of Hormuz.
