Trump: US attacked Iran's Kharg Island, will soon begin escorting ships through the Strait of Hormuz

The United States will begin escorting vessels through the Strait of Hormuz very soon to protect them from Iranian attacks, US President Donald Trump said. On Truth Social, he also announced that the US military had completely destroyed military targets on Iran's Kharg Island, which serves as an export terminal for 90 percent of Iran's oil exports. Trump also threatened to order the destruction of the island's oil infrastructure if Iran obstructed safe passage through the strait.

"I have decided not to destroy the oil infrastructure on this island. However, if Iran or anyone else takes any action that interferes with free and safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, I will immediately reconsider this decision," Trump wrote.

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has been crippled by the conflict sparked by US and Israeli attacks on Iran. Around a fifth of the world's oil and natural gas supplies normally pass through the strait.

In response to Trump's remarks, Iran's armed forces said that any attack on Iranian energy infrastructure would lead to attacks on infrastructure belonging to oil companies in the region that cooperate with the United States.

"If the Americans were also to strike the island's oil infrastructure, Iran's economy would collapse for years," Lukáš Kovanda, chief economist at Trinity Bank, told the Czech News Agency (ČTK).

"Tehran is allowing virtually only its own vessels through, and perhaps Indian ones, for example. These are often ships carrying cargo from Kharg, frequently to China. Pipelines from Iran's oil fields converge on Kharg, where the oil is stored before being loaded onto supertankers, mostly bound for China," he added.

According to Iran's Fars news agency, the oil infrastructure on Kharg Island was not damaged in the attack. The strikes did, however, hit air defenses, a naval base, a helicopter hangar and the airport control tower. The agency reported at least 15 explosions on the island, which covers 20 square kilometers. Trump wrote on Truth Social that the strikes on Kharg were among the most devastating air raids "in the history of the Middle East" and had completely destroyed all military targets on the island.

Trump said Iran was unable to defend the targets the US military chose to attack. "The Iranian military and everyone else associated with this terrorist regime would be wise to lay down their arms and save what is left of their country, which is not much," the US president wrote on Truth Social. Iran, he said, would never possess nuclear weapons and would not be able to threaten the United States.

Fears of a prolonged disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz have led to a sharp rise in oil prices. North Sea Brent crude closed Friday's trading above $103 a barrel. It rose by more than 11 percent over the week, Reuters reported.

Neil Quilliam of the British think tank Chatham House told The Guardian a few days ago that oil prices could climb as high as $150 a barrel following an attack on Kharg Island. By comparison, oil prices reached a maximum of $130 a barrel after Russia's military invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Kovanda noted that fuel prices in Czechia rose to nearly 50 crowns per liter at the time. "That kind of price movement could therefore happen again in Czechia if the Americans ultimately launch a broader attack on Kharg, targeting more than just the military targets there," he added.