U.S. Strikes Military Infrastructure on Kharg Island, Iran's Primary Crude Export Terminal

U.S. Central Command conducted large-scale precision strikes on Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf on March 13, targeting military installations on the island that handles approximately 90% of Iran's crude oil exports.

CENTCOM confirmed the strike destroyed naval mine storage facilities, missile storage bunkers, and additional military sites across more than 90 targets. Iranian state media and Iranian semi-official Fars News Agency reported that no oil infrastructure on the island was damaged. More than 15 explosions were recorded, with strikes confirmed against air defenses, the Joshen Sea Base, an airport control tower, and a helicopter hangar.

Kharg Island lies approximately 15 miles off Iran's coast and is home to an oil terminal responsible for shipping roughly 90% of the country's crude exports.

Speaking on NBC News on Saturday, President Trump stated that the U.S. strikes had "totally demolished" much of the oil export hub. Independent maritime tracking data does not support that characterization. SAR imagery from March 15 shows approximately ten tankers in the Kharg anchorage area, suggesting vessels are waiting to load or operating with limited AIS visibility. TankerTrackers reported a tanker actively loading oil two days after the strikes, with seven additional vessels at anchorage — five of which had already loaded fuel oil and two waiting to load.Separate satellite analysis confirmed all 55 crude oil storage tanks appeared intact, with two NITC tankers beginning to load approximately 2.7 million barrels of crude the morning after the strike.

Iranian crude exports from Kharg have fallen 51.7% since hostilities began February 28, with tankers increasingly relying on AIS suppression and location spoofing to obscure export activity. According to TankerTrackers, the island had been loading tankers continuously since the start of the conflict.