During the first two weeks of the latest war in the Middle East, as US and Israeli strikes rained down on military and energy facilities across Iran, one site went conspicuously untouched.

President Trump is reportedly weighing the deployment of thousands of additional US troops to the Middle East that could potentially be used on the ground in Iran. The Trump administration has discussed using ground forces on Iranian shores to secure the Strait of Hormuz and Kharg Island,

Kharg Island serves as the centerpiece for Iran's oil industry, accounting for roughly 90% of the country’s crude exports.

Spread over a meagre 20 square kilometres, Iran's Kharg island processes 90 per cent of the country's total oil exports, driving the region to the edge as the US attacked it on Friday, 15 days into the Middle East conflict.

According to a report in the Hindustan Times, Petras Katinas, a researcher at the Royal United Services Institute, notes that while Kharg is not a nuclear site, it is the primary engine for financing the Iranian government and military. Losing control of this "crown jewel" would essentially paralyse Iran's ability to operate as a modern state.

Roughly one-third the size of Manhattan, the island is often described as the "economic lifeblood" of the Iranian state. A 1984 CIA document called the facilities on the island "the most vital in Iran’s oil system,

President Donald Trump on Truth Social announced that US forces had attacked Kharg Island, Iran's energy lifeline.

Seventeen days after fighting erupted between the United States and Israel on one side and Iran on the other, the conflict is

WTI crude futures rose above $99 per barrel on Monday after earlier climbing as high as $102.40 a barrel to their highest level since July 2022, following US strikes on military sites on Kharg Island as the Middle East conflict entered its third week.