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Donald Trump has said US forces have ‘totally obliterated’ military targets on Iran’s Kharg Island.
Posting on Truth Social, the US president hailed American troops who ‘executed one of the most powerful bombing raids in the History of the Middle East’.
Kharg Island, located 16 miles off the coast of Iran and around 300 miles from the Strait of Hormuz, handles around 90% of its oil exports.
Dubbed the ‘Forbidden Island’, it is heavily guarded by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Announcing the bombing raid, Trump wrote: ‘Moments ago, at my direction, the United States Central Command executed one of the most powerful bombing raids in the History of the Middle East, and totally obliterated every MILITARY target in Iran’s crown jewel, Kharg Island.
‘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.’
In a later post, Trump said: ‘Iran had plans of taking over the entire Middle East, and completely obliterating Israel. JUST LIKE IRAN ITSELF, THOSE PLANS ARE NOW DEAD!’
The president had earlier threatened to strike oil infrastructure on Kharg Island unless attacks on vessels on the Strait of Hormuz ceased.
The IRGC warned the energy infrastructure of US allies in the Middle East will be ‘reduced to ashes’ if Iranian energy assets were attacked.
It said oil and energy assets of any countries cooperating with the US would be ‘immediately destroyed’ in the event of more attacks on the country’s energy sites.
In a social media post, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said the regime ‘will abandon all restraint’ if the islands come under attack and said Trump will be responsible for ‘the blood of American soldiers’.
Markets were watching for any sign that US strikes had damaged the island’s intricate network of pipelines, terminals and storage tanks.
Even minor disruptions could further tighten global supply, adding pressure to a volatile market.
Oil prices have swung sharply on Trump’s changing comments about the likely duration of the war, which began on February 28 with massive US and Israeli bombardments of Iran and quickly spread into a regional conflict with broad consequences for worldwide energy and stock markets.
The US embassy in the Iraqi capital Baghdad was hit in a missile attack on Saturday, causing smoke to rise from the building, Iraqi security sources said.
They did not have further details on the strike.
In other attacks across the region, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had carried out additional attacks on Israel with Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported.
Lebanon has become an escalating flashpoint in the war with Israel’s military and Hezbollah forces exchanging strikes in and around Beirut.
On Friday, the Israeli military said its air force had struck more than 200 targets in western and central Iran over the past day, including ballistic missile launchers, air-defence systems and weapons production sites.
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