Hours before announcing the cancellation of a planned strike on Iran, President Trump had said U.S. forces would seize Kharg Island in the near future.
Known as the “forbidden island” because of its tight military control, Kharg Island processes 90 percent of Iran’s crude oil exports.
Located 55 km northwest of Bushehr port and 15 nautical miles from the Iranian mainland, Kharg Island is the backbone of Iran’s economy.
In an interview with U.S. media last week, Trump said that since Kharg is only 8 km long and 4 to 5 km wide, the deep waters around it provide a natural geographic advantage.
Because of this depth, large supertankers can anchor there safely. Crude oil is loaded there, particularly for the Asian market, of which China is the main importer.
These continually upgraded Iranian oil terminals have a loading capacity of about 700,000 barrels a day, it was reported, though current national exports hover at around 1.6 million barrels a day.
There are fears that a U.S. strike on Kharg would sharply raise tensions. A U.S. attack could prompt Tehran to launch broad retaliatory strikes on Gulf infrastructure, which would push oil prices even higher. The Iran war has already become a threat to the global economy.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report