(AP) — U.S. forces carried out airstrikes on military facilities on Kharg Island, President Donald Trump said Friday, warning that Iran’s critical oil infrastructure could face destruction if Tehran continues disrupting maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump declared in a social media message that American forces had “obliterated” military positions on the island, a key hub for Iran’s petroleum exports.
The president added that while the current strikes targeted military facilities, the United States could escalate operations against the country’s energy infrastructure if Iran continues interfering with ships transiting the narrow waterway linking the Persian Gulf to global markets.
The statement marked one of the strongest warnings yet from Washington during the nearly two-week-old war between Iran and its regional adversaries.
Kharg Island sits roughly 21 miles (33 kilometers) off Iran’s coast and serves as the primary terminal through which most of the country’s crude oil exports move to international markets.
Iran has shipped roughly 13.7 million barrels of oil since the conflict began on Feb. 28, according to maritime intelligence firm TankerTrackers.com, which identified tankers loading crude at the island earlier this week using satellite imagery.
Trump said the latest American strikes avoided the island’s oil export facilities, though he cautioned that restraint could end quickly.
“If Iran or anyone else interferes with ships moving through the Strait of Hormuz, we will reconsider wiping out the oil infrastructure,” Trump wrote.
The threat underscores how energy infrastructure has become central to the expanding confrontation, with analysts warning that attacks on oil facilities could have far-reaching economic consequences.
Iranian officials responded with stark warnings that further attacks on their maritime frontier could trigger a broader conflict.
Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf warned earlier this week that assaults on Iran’s islands in the Persian Gulf would prompt the country to abandon restraint.
In a social media post, he cautioned that any such strikes could lead to “a new level of retaliation.”
On Saturday, Iran’s joint military command reiterated that warning.
Ebrahim Zolfaghari said Iranian forces could target energy installations linked to U.S. interests across the region.
The warning included oil facilities belonging to companies with American investment or those cooperating with the United States.
Iran’s semiofficial Fars News Agency stated that the strikes caused no damage to Kharg Island’s oil export infrastructure.
However, the outlet said at least 15 explosions were recorded on the island, including hits on an air defense installation, a naval base, an airport control tower and a helicopter hangar used by an offshore oil company.
As tensions escalate, Washington is also expanding its military footprint across the Middle East.
A U.S. official familiar with the deployment plans confirmed that roughly 2,500 additional Marines and an amphibious assault ship are being dispatched to the region.
The reinforcements include elements of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit and the amphibious assault vessel USS Tripoli.
The unit is currently based in Okinawa and has been moving across the Pacific Ocean in recent days.
Satellite tracking earlier showed the USS Tripoli sailing near Taiwan, placing it more than a week away from waters near Iran.
Marine Expeditionary Units are designed for a wide range of missions, including amphibious landings, embassy protection, evacuation of civilians and humanitarian response.
Officials stressed that the deployment does not necessarily signal preparations for a ground invasion.
The additional Marines could eventually join a significant U.S. naval force operating in the region.
Earlier this week the Navy had 12 warships stationed in the Arabian Sea, including the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and eight destroyers.
Should the USS Tripoli link up with that group, it would become the second-largest American vessel in the theater.
One of the region’s largest American installations, Al-Udeid Air Base, typically hosts about 8,000 U.S. troops.
The Pentagon has not publicly disclosed the total number of American service members currently deployed across the Middle East.
Meanwhile, violence linked to the war reached Baghdad, where a missile struck a helipad inside the U.S. Embassy Baghdad complex, two Iraqi security officials said.
Video captured by The Associated Press showed smoke rising above the sprawling diplomatic facility Saturday morning.
The embassy has frequently been targeted by rockets and drones launched by Iran-aligned militias operating inside Iraq.
The U.S. Embassy did not immediately comment on the strike.
A day earlier, the mission renewed a Level 4 security warning advising Americans not to travel to Iraq due to threats from Iran-linked militant groups.
The island strikes unfolded as Israeli and American forces continued a broad air campaign targeting military infrastructure inside Iran.
Pete Hegseth said in Washington that more than 15,000 targets have been hit since the war began.
Israeli officials said their air force struck more than 200 sites during the previous 24 hours alone, including missile launchers, weapons factories and air defense systems.
Beyond Kharg Island, several smaller islands in the Persian Gulf remain sensitive flashpoints between Iran and Gulf states allied with Washington.
Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunb have long been contested between Iran and the United Arab Emirates.
Iran seized the islands in 1971 after British forces withdrew from the region, shortly before the formation of the UAE.
Tehran maintains military garrisons on the islands, which sit near major shipping lanes used by global energy markets.
Another strategic location, Qeshm Island, lies near the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz and hosts a population of roughly 150,000 people.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi previously accused the United States of striking a desalination plant on Qeshm earlier in the war — a claim Washington has not acknowledged.
The strikes on Kharg Island represent a potentially dangerous turning point in the confrontation between the United States and Iran.
Unlike military bases or weapons facilities, energy infrastructure sits at the core of Iran’s economy. Kharg Island alone handles the vast majority of the country’s crude exports.
Energy analysts warn that disabling the terminal could instantly halt Iran’s ability to sell oil abroad, depriving the government of one of its primary sources of revenue.
At the same time, such a move could trigger severe retaliation.
The Strait of Hormuz remains one of the world’s most important energy chokepoints, with roughly 20% of globally traded oil passing through the narrow waterway.
Any sustained disruption could send shockwaves through international energy markets, raising fuel prices worldwide and increasing economic pressure far beyond the Middle East.
For Washington, the threat to strike oil infrastructure appears designed to increase leverage against Tehran without immediately triggering the most destabilizing scenario.
But with Iranian leaders warning they will target regional energy facilities tied to the United States, the economic battlefield may soon become as significant as the military one in determining how the conflict unfolds.
