Axios: US considers seizing or blockading Iran’s Kharg Island

The Trump administration is weighing a plan to occupy or blockade Iran’s Kharg Island as a measure to compel Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, four sources with knowledge of the issue told Axios.

President Trump cannot declare the conflict over, at least according to his own objectives, until Iran’s control over shipping in the Strait of Hormuz is disrupted. Meanwhile, global energy prices continue to climb.

However, taking control of Kharg Island—which lies 15 miles offshore and handles 90% of Iran’s crude oil exports—would place US forces in a more direct line of fire. 

Such a move, therefore, would only be considered after the US military further diminishes Iran’s military capabilities in the Strait of Hormuz.

"We need about a month to weaken the Iranians more with strikes, take the island and then get them by the balls and use it for negotiations," a source familiar with White House thinking explained.

Carrying out the operation would also demand additional troops. Three separate Marine units are reportedly en route to the region, and both the White House and the Pentagon are reviewing the possibility of deploying even more personnel soon, a U.S. official said.

“He wants Hormuz open. If he has to take Kharg Island to make it happen, that's going to happen. If he decides to have a coastal invasion, that's going to happen. But that decision hasn't been made," a senior administration official added.

By Jeyhun Aghazada