US bombs Iran’s Kharg Island: Trump warns of worse to come

WEB DESK: In a dramatic escalation of hostilities in the Persian Gulf, President Donald Trump has announced that American forces carried out one of the most devastating bombing raids ever conducted in the Middle East, completely destroying every military installation on Iran’s strategically vital Kharg Island.

According to CNN, the announcement, delivered in characteristically forceful language via the president’s own social media platform, confirmed that United States Central Command (CENTCOM) executed the operation under his direct orders. Kharg Island, a small but extraordinarily important facility lying some 25 kilometres off Iran’s southwestern coast, handles the vast majority approximately 90pc of the Islamic Republic’s crude oil exports.

Restraint on oil facilities – but only for now

President Trump was careful to stress that the strikes had been deliberately confined to military targets. The island’s extensive oil terminals, storage tanks, loading platforms and associated infrastructure were left intact at least for the present.

“I chose not to destroy the island’s oil infrastructure for now,” the president stated. “But if Iran, or anyone else, threatens the free and safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, that decision will change immediately.”

He went on to underline the overwhelming firepower available to the United States, adding: “Our weapons are the most powerful and sophisticated that the world has ever known.”

The warning carries particular weight given the Strait of Hormuz’s status as one of the world’s most critical maritime choke points. Roughly one-fifth of global seaborne oil trade passes through its narrow waters, and any sustained disruption would almost certainly send energy prices soaring and destabilise international markets.

The strike comes against the backdrop of sharply rising tensions between Washington and Tehran, now in its second week of open conflict. Iranian officials have already vowed retaliation, with senior figures warning that any further attacks on the country’s oil-export capability would be met with strikes against American and allied interests across the region.