Iran has threatened to retaliate by attacking energy facilities in the region connected to the United States if the US attacks oil infrastructure on Kark Island, affirming that the oil infrastructure remains undamaged.
Iranian state media cited a statement from the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Military Headquarters early Saturday local time, saying that if the US attacks Iran’s oil and energy infrastructure, Iran will respond by striking energy facilities in the region that have US stakeholders or cooperate with the United States.
This warning came after US President Donald Trump announced that US forces had attacked military targets on Kark Island, a key hub for Iran’s crude oil exports. The US leader also threatened further strikes on the island’s oil infrastructure if Iran continues to obstruct shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global energy transit route.
However, Iran’s official Fars News Agency reported more than 15 explosions on the island and thick smoke rising following the US military strike on military targets, but confirmed that the oil infrastructure on Kark Island was not damaged by the US attack.
A field source cited by the news agency said the targets of the attack included military defense systems, the Joshen Sea Base naval facility, the airport control tower, and the helicopter hangar on the island.
Kark Island is a small island in the Persian Gulf, located about 24 kilometers off the Iranian coast, but it is critically important to the country’s economy as the center for nearly all of Iran’s crude oil exports.
Iran, the fourth largest oil producer in OPEC, exports about nine out of ten barrels of crude oil through this island, with export volumes around 1.5 million barrels per day, primarily destined for China.
/source:CNN
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