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Posted on 03/11/2026 7:08:31 PM PDT by henbane
The economic significance of Kharg Island to Iran renders it especially susceptible to potential military threats. However, experts suggest that any effort to capture it would likely necessitate a ground troop operation, which the U.S. seems hesitant to pursue.
Experts further state that if Washington aims to intensify pressure beyond airstrikes, capturing or incapacitating Kharg Island’s oil infrastructure could strip Tehran of one of its most crucial financial resources. Given its pivotal role in global energy supply chains, any assault on the island might also cause a sharp increase in international oil prices, rendering it one of the most critical targets in the ongoing Gulf conflict.
(Excerpt) Read more at hindustantimes.com ...
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Whether it will be returned to Iranian control depends on the terms of a final settlement at the end of this conflict.
“Rubio, you’re now the Landman of Iranian oil production.”
Don’t seize it.
Bomb the pumps. They pump oil 16 miles out to the island.
Simple. Cheap. Repeatable. Leaves the infrastructure intact for when good guys take over. Renders the island useless in the interim.
No boots on the ground.
Incredibly low risk.
Agreed.
Excellent.
Was wondering if I had an original idea.
Nope.
Grok:
“ The most detailed and influential discussion comes from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in its February 2026 report If Trump Strikes Iran: Mapping the Oil Disruption Scenarios. CSIS (a premier Pentagon-adjacent think tank whose work directly informs U.S. military and policy circles) states:
“Kharg could be taken offline in several ways, including disabling or destroying its ship loading equipment (hoses, pumps, and connecting hardware), damaging its oil storage tanks, or cutting off the flow of oil that reaches Kharg via subsea pipelines. Choke points for oil deliveries to Kharg include the onshore Ghurreh booster station, the manifold station at Ganaveh, and the pipelines themselves.”
This is presented as one of the primary, low-footprint options alongside more direct island strikes. The Ghurreh Booster Station is the critical pumping facility on the mainland that drives crude through the trunk lines; the Ganaveh manifold is where pipelines converge before crossing underwater to the island. Damaging either the booster pumps or the subsea lines themselves severs the flow entirely—no oil reaches the island’s storage tanks or tanker-loading jetties.   
This framing matches your description almost verbatim: the “ability to pump oil across [the sea]” is called out as the decisive choke point. Other analyses echo it:
• A detailed operational assessment notes the “Submarine Pipelines: Multiple lines connecting Ganaveh to Kharg” and the “Ghurreh Booster Station: The pumping facility that drives crude through the trunk line systems,” arguing these mainland/sea-crossing elements are integral to any disabling strategy. 
• Summaries of the CSIS work (e.g., in Ynet and other outlets) repeat: “cutting off the underwater pipelines supplying oil to the island” is sufficient to disable Kharg.
Since 90% of Iran's oil goes to China, might cutting off this key source of China's oil supply tend to bring in some kind of military action from the Oriental giant?
People in the media are starting to pay attention to Kharg Island.
Maybe they should subscribe to Coffee & CoVid. Jeff Childers called this several days ago.
https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/gentlemens-agreements-sunday-march
Foolish at the moment. WAY easier to stop and seize any tanker loading there and departing through the Straits.
If you grab the island, you have to conduct an amphib operation or a large airlift, 20 miles from Iran. It’s a needless risk of military lives.
Seizing it doesn’t give us the oil, that comes from the mainland Iran in pipelines... so no supplies will come through if we grab it.
Next, seizing it is very risky for two reasons.
A sensible Iranian defense would be to set charges ready for detonation if they were watching us grab it. Also, they can lob endless missiles at it, and we are already low of AA missiles.
We gain almost nothing by grabbing it. And Persians invented Chess. If they see our intent is to permanently deprive them of it, holding it hostage, they remove that by blowing it up. And THAT means a nasty oil shock coming our way.
Better and easier to just grab any tanker coming from there. Grabbing the island is a high school solution.
To the victor go the spoils. Take control of their money and gold bullion as well and hold it until a new acceptable government is in place.
Capturing might involve troops. Blowing it into oblivion wouldn’t. Alas, 80%+ of Iran’s oil goes through here ( which makes it such a splendid target). Receiving nations (like China) might take BIG issue with any action directed here which chokes off their supply.
Bkmk
Our side keeps scheming ways to take it, and hold it intact, for our later use (ostensibly with a new Iranian government).
If you were the current Iranians, and you saw it get grabbed, or thought it might be.... there would be zero reason for you to leave it untouched. You’d blow it up scorched earth, or with missiles.
You wouldn’t have any reason not to. They would have zero belief that if they let it stand, that someday we might gove it back to the Mullahs.
This is a pipedream, and of little value to grab.
One F-15 with a couple of JDAMs can take out the pumps.
Voila!
You can’t seize their gold. It’s in vaults in Iran...not held in western banks like the Russians had stored. The sanctions prevented it.
Unintended consequences of our moronic policies.
By taking out the pumps, it temporarily makes it dead. The regime might think of negotiating to get it back, rather than blow it all sky high.
That’s a very useful leverage point.
But hold it hostage to things we care about.
With what? Their inept airforce or tofu dreg navy????
After seeing the horrifying videos of the two blazing tankers hit by Iranian fire, turning the Hormuz area into a fiery cauldron doesn't seem like a feasible option.
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