President Trump Says United States Targeted Iran’s Kharg Island in Bombing Raid
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said U.S. ports, docks, and military sites in the UAE are now legitimate targets after the Kharg Island strike, signaling a broader regional escalation risk.
President Trump said on March 13 Eastern Time that U.S. Central Command bombed Iran’s Kharg Island, an oil export hub, and destroyed all military targets on the island. A new development from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps states that U.S. ports, docks, and military sites in the UAE are now considered legitimate targets following the strike. This adds a more specific retaliation threat to earlier warnings that attacks on Kharg Island could widen the conflict beyond direct U.S.-Iran targets. The existing context remains that U.S. officials had indicated the conflict could last weeks and that Washington had sought to avoid direct strikes on Iranian oil infrastructure.
- Kharg Island: A strategically important Iranian island in the Persian Gulf that serves as a major hub for the country’s crude oil exports.
- Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps: A major branch of Iran’s armed forces with military, security, and strategic influence, often abbreviated as the IRGC.
- U.S. Central Command: The U.S. military command responsible for operations across the Middle East and surrounding regions.