Alarm and scepticism greet Trump’s threat to seize Iran’s Kharg Island

WASHINGTON: Media coverage in the United States and elsewhere on Thursday reflected a mix of concern and doubt after President Donald Trump threatened to seize Kharg Island, Iran’s main offshore oil export terminal. Reports across major outlets focused on the widening gap between the administration’s rhetoric and the military practicality of carrying out such an operation.

In The New York Times, White House correspondent Jonathan Swan wrote that Trump had repeatedly raised the possibility of attacking Kharg during the war as he intensified pressure on Iran to accept his demands over its nuclear programme. Swan wrote:

"Trump has repeatedly said he would attack Kharg during the war, as he has ramped up his threats to try to compel Iran to agree to his demands to shutter its nuclear programme. Iran has consistently called his bluff,"

Swan also said constraints inside Washington were shaping the debate over possible military action. He wrote:

"Trump has few easy options,"

He pointed to limited US stocks of long-range weapons and the difficulty of any effort to capture the island. Swan added:

"The US is dangerously low on long-range weapons stocks, and seizing Kharg would involve a substantial risk of American casualties, and most of Trump’s advisers oppose a full-blown ground operation to try and topple the Iranian government. But he continues to make bellicose threats and in recent days has launched waves of military strikes,"

The Washington Post similarly stressed the operational and human costs of trying to take and hold the island. According to the newspaper, such a move would carry a serious danger of American casualties and would require a sizable deployment of US troops, pushing any operation beyond limited strikes and towards a broader regional war posture.

Questions over military feasibility

NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel said the latest exchange of strikes and threats had already changed the character of the conflict. He said:

"It’s safe to say that the ceasefire is effectively dead and has now been replaced by negotiations under fire,"

Engel said Trump was trying to force Tehran into an agreement, but added that Iran was showing no sign that it wanted to proceed under those conditions and had insisted it would respond whenever it came under attack.

CNN, citing reporting from Washington, said Tehran had anticipated the possibility of such a move and had been preparing for months. Reporter Kaanita Iyer wrote:

Iran has been preparing for months for a US operation to take control of Kharg Island, which President Trump threatened to attack on Thursday.

Cited by CNN, Iran has reinforced the island’s defences with additional shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile systems, or MANPADs, and has also planted anti-personnel and anti-armour mines, including along shoreline areas where US troops might try to land. CNN described Kharg as an economic lifeline for Iran, saying it handles roughly 90 per cent of the country’s crude exports. The network also referred to military assessments warning that an effort to capture the island could result in heavy US casualties.

Oil market reaction

Financial markets also responded quickly to the threat. The BBC reported that oil prices climbed by about $2, with Brent crude futures rising to $94.16 a barrel within minutes of Trump’s warning of further strikes. The broadcaster also cited defence analysts as saying that any assault on Kharg Island would be highly complex, requiring US forces to cover considerable distances by sea or air, which would make a landing especially difficult.

Taken together, the coverage presented Kharg Island not as a symbolic target but as a heavily defended and economically vital site, while highlighting broad concern among reporters and analysts over the costs and risks of any attempt to seize it.