Kharg Island
Updated
What it is
Kharg Island is a small island off Iran's southwest coast in the Persian Gulf and Iran's main oil export terminal. About 90 percent of Iran's crude exports load there, a concentration in one place that is unusual among major oil producers.
Why it matters lately
On March 14, 2026 U.S. forces struck more than 90 military targets on Kharg, including mine and missile storage, while deliberately avoiding its oil facilities, and President Trump threatened the oil infrastructure if Iran kept blocking Hormuz. On September 5, 2026 the U.S. hit an Iranian oil tanker at Kharg as one of three tankers struck in retaliation for missile fire at U.S. warships.
Asymmetric Analytics view
Inference (AA): It is the single point through which most Iranian oil reaches the market, linking the Iran war to crude supply in the graph.