The U.S. military executed on Friday a “large scale” strike on Kharg Island, Iran that President Donald Trump said “totally obliterated every MILITARY target” there.
U.S. Central Command said on Saturday morning that the strike destroyed 90 Iranian targets, including naval mine storage facilities and missile storage bunkers, “while preserving the oil infrastructure.”
“For reasons of decency, I have chosen NOT to wipe out the Oil Infrastructure on the Island. However, should Iran, or anyone else, do anything to interfere with the Free and Safe Passage of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz, I will immediately reconsider this decision,” Trump said on Truth Social.
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At least 15 explosions were heard on the Island Friday night, according to Fars News Agency, which is connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Iran’s armed forces confirmed Kharg Island’s oil infrastructure was not damaged. However, if it is, “all oil and gas infrastructure in the region in which the U.S. and its allies have interests will be set on fire and destroyed,” it added.
Ehsan Jahaniyan, the deputy governor of Iran’s southern Bushehr province, said Saturday that oil companies at the export terminal in Kharg Island are “continuing as normal” and there were no casualties, Iranian state media reported.
Kharg Island’s terminal ships about 90% of Iran’s oil exports. Petras Katinas, a research fellow in Climate, Energy and Defense at the Royal United Services Institute, told NBC News that it “serves as the physical hub enabling Iranian crude exports and the primary gateway for oil revenues.” This lets Iran sustain crude oil sales, even with U.S. sanctions, Katinas said.
Also on Saturday, Iran told residents of the United Arab Emirates to evacuate several areas, including Jebel Ali Port, Khalifa Port and Fujairah Port, saying that they have become “legitimate targets due to the presence and sheltering of U.S. military forces among civilian facilities.”
The Associated Press said that there’s been no sign of an attack on Jebel Ali or Khalifa, but debris from an intercepted Iranian drone hitting an oil facility led to a fire at Fujairah Port.
The war began two weeks ago, with joint strikes by the U.S. and Israel on Iran that killed its Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Since then, Iranian and Lebanese health officials, as well as Israeli authorities, have reported more than 1,300 people killed in Iran. That number includes 175 students and staff at a girls school in Minab. Satellite images verified by multiple news outlets show an American-made Tomahawk missile was used in the strike, and an ongoing military investigation determined that the U.S. was responsible for the attack, The New York Times said, citing officials and others familiar with the matter.
Seven U.S. service members were killed in strikes, and six U.S. service members died when a refueling aircraft crashed in Iraq. There have been 773 people in Lebanon and 12 civilians in Israel killed as well as two Israeli soldiers in Lebanon, according to NPR.
On Friday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the U.S. and Israel hit over 15,000 targets and wounded Mojtaba Khamenei, who took over the role of Iran’s supreme leader after his father’s death.
Traffic at the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for an estimated 20% of the world’s oil supply, has been halted, since the war started. U.S. officials have floated the idea of the military escorting oil tankers through the strait, though experts say it would be dangerous due to Iranian attacks on vessels.
Trump on Saturday called for China, France, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and other countries to send ships to the area “so that the Hormuz Strait will no longer be a threat by a Nation that has been totally decapitated.”
“In the meantime, the United States will be bombing the hell out of the shoreline, and continually shooting Iranian Boats and Ships out of the water,” Trump said. “One way or the other, we will soon get the Hormuz Strait OPEN, SAFE, and FREE!”
When asked by a reporter Friday how long the war will last, Trump said “I can’t tell you that.”
“I mean, I have my own idea, but what good does it do? It will be as long as it’s necessary,” he said. “They’ve been decimated. The country — their country’s in bad shape. The whole thing is collapsing.”
Attack on US Embassy in Baghdad
American citizens were urged to leave Iraq Saturday by the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad because of “Iran-aligned terrorist militias” who have “carried out indiscriminate attacks” in the country.
This warning came after an overnight attack on the U.S. Embassy. That marks the second time the facility has come under attack during the war.
In video footage verified by The New York Times, the embassy’s roof is on fire.
Commercial flights from Iraq are not currently operating, the U.S. Embassy noted, but added that there are land routes to Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
