Ex-Israeli defence minister calls for seizure of Kharg Island to pressure Iran

Former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has called on the United States and Israel to seize Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export terminal, arguing that such a move could deliver a severe blow to the Iranian economy and reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

In a post on the Substack platform on March 26, Gallant described Kharg Island as the critical hub through which the vast majority of Iran’s oil shipments pass. He argued that capturing the island would increase economic and political pressure on Tehran and amplify international leverage.

Gallant wrote that as long as Iran controls the Strait of Hormuz, it maintains a “veto over the global economy” and holds the world’s energy supply “hostage” through weapons deployed along its coastline. He suggested that destroying Iran’s nuclear and missile facilities would be insufficient to achieve decisive results without addressing the economic leverage Iran wields through the strait.

He described Kharg Island as “the key that resolves this equation,” saying its capture could accelerate internal change in Iran and send a message that the United States is committed to a decisive outcome. 

"Kharg Island is the key that resolves this equation. It accelerates the economic and political pressure that may finally produce the internal change the Iranian people have sought for decades. And it sends a message air strikes alone cannot deliver: The U.S. is committed to a decisive outcome, and it is not going home without one," he wrote. 

By Sabina Mammadli