The US just bombed Iran's oil crown jewel and left the oil infrastructure standing. For now. Tehran says the next move determines whether the entire Gulf burns.
What Happened on Kharg Island
Late on Friday, March 13, US President Donald Trump announced that US Central Command had executed what he called "one of the most powerful bombing raids in the History of the Middle East" on Iran's Kharg Island. Every military target on the island was destroyed. Missile storage sites, mine storage facilities, and military assets protecting the island's oil infrastructure were all hit. The oil terminals and pipelines themselves were left untouched. Deliberately.
Kharg Island is not just any Iranian outpost. It handles roughly 90 percent of Iran's crude oil exports, around 950 million barrels per year. It is the economic backbone of the Iranian state. The island had been left alone for the first two weeks of Operation Epic Fury. No longer.
Trump posted the announcement on Truth Social. He also shared video footage of the strikes, geolocated by CNN to the island's airport facilities. Large explosions. Black smoke. US Air Force bombers confirmed as the primary strike asset.
Trump's Ultimatum: Open Hormuz or Lose Everything
Washington's message was direct. Trump said he chose "NOT to wipe out the Oil Infrastructure on the Island" but made clear that choice could be reversed immediately if Iran continued blocking ships in the Strait of Hormuz. The strait carries roughly 20 percent of the world's crude oil and liquefied natural gas. Iran has effectively shut it down since the war began on February 28.
Trump added that the US Navy would begin escorting tankers through Hormuz "soon." Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed the same. Gen. Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, acknowledged it is a "tactically complex environment" and said the US wants to complete its military objectives before moving tankers through at scale.
The Pentagon also confirmed it has ordered an additional Marine Expeditionary Unit to the region, roughly 2,200 Marines aboard three amphibious warships. Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf had warned just a day before the strikes that any attack on Iranian islands would make the US military "personally responsible for the blood of American soldiers." The strikes went ahead anyway.
Iran Fires Back
Tehran's response came within hours. Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters released a statement: any attack on Iran's oil, economic, or energy assets will trigger immediate retaliation against regional energy infrastructure owned by oil companies cooperating with the United States.
Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who succeeded his father killed in the opening strikes on February 28, has vowed to keep the Strait of Hormuz shut. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Friday that Khamenei is "wounded, likely disfigured," and in hiding. Vice President JD Vance confirmed: "We know that he's hurt."
Meanwhile the war is spreading. Turkey's defense ministry confirmed that NATO intercepted an Iranian ballistic missile that entered Turkish airspace, the third such interception since March 4. Drones crashed in Oman's Sohar region, killing two people. Dubai reported missile threats. Saudi Arabia intercepted over a dozen drones. Kuwait's international airport was struck by Iranian drones Thursday. A French military staffer was killed in Erbil, Iraq, with at least six French soldiers wounded. Qatar has evacuated key areas after explosions were heard in Doha.
Day 14 of this war marks the largest single-day strike volume yet. US Defense Secretary Hegseth confirmed over 15,000 enemy targets struck since the war began, more than 1,000 per day.
Oil at $100-Plus and No End in Sight
Brent crude settled above $100 a barrel on Friday, its second straight session above that level, reaching the highest price in more than three years. That is a gain of over 40 percent since the war began on February 28. Asian countries are already dealing with shortages of cooking gas and road fuel. US gasoline prices are at their highest level in roughly two years.
Millions of barrels of oil are trapped inside the Persian Gulf with nowhere to go. Shipping traffic through Hormuz is at a standstill. Iran, in a curious detail, has reportedly considered allowing some vessels to pass through the strait, but only if cargo is traded in Chinese yuan rather than US dollars. Washington has not responded publicly to that offer.
A senior analyst told CNN that if the US follows through and hits Kharg's oil infrastructure, "prices will just go out of control." Energy experts note that even without Kharg, Iran retains some export capability through the Jask terminal on the Gulf of Oman, east of the Strait of Hormuz. But volumes would drop sharply. The economic hit to Tehran would be severe.
Back-channel diplomacy is underway. Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Turkey are leading mediation efforts with European backing. France is coordinating with Gulf states and Asian nations over a potential tanker escort framework. Those talks are described by sources as downbeat on prospects for quick progress.
Editorial View · Santhosh Vishwamitra
Trump's move on Kharg Island is calculated coercion, not a miscalculation. He destroyed the military shield around Iran's oil infrastructure while leaving the infrastructure itself intact, essentially telling Tehran: your economy is now a hostage to your behavior in Hormuz. That is a pressure point. It is also a gamble. Iran has already said it will hit US-linked oil facilities across the region if the oil infrastructure goes. That is not a bluff you can easily call without setting the entire Gulf energy market on fire. The irony is that the US, which wants oil prices to fall, is conducting a war that has pushed Brent past $100 and counting. At some point those two goals, ending the war quickly and keeping energy markets stable, come into direct conflict. Washington has not answered how it resolves that tension. The Hormuz standoff is the real endgame here, and whoever blinks on that determines how this ends.
The Bottom Line
The US just turned Kharg Island into a loaded gun pointed at Iran's economy. Tehran answered with a threat to burn the region's energy infrastructure if the trigger is pulled. Both sides are now one decision away from a crisis that no back-channel diplomat can quickly patch.
Santhosh Vishwamitra
Founder of Inside Stories. Writes analysis on geopolitics, global energy markets, and international power dynamics.
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