Donald Trump is considering using ground troops to occupy Iran’s strategically valuable Kharg Island, according to reports.
Axios cited four sources as saying the Trump Administration was considering a blockade of the island or even landing troops there.
A ground invasion, even of a small island off the coast of mainland Iran, would be seen as a major escalation of the war.
When questioned about this outside the White House, Trump was coy.
“I may have a plan, I may not,” he said.
“It’s certainly a place that people are talking about. But I can’t tell you that.”
The island had been untouched by the war until last Saturday, when it was targeted by a US airstrike.
Kharg Island has a population of around 8000.
Because access to the island is restricted, it has a nickname locally as Forbidden Island.
Because Iran’s coastline is too shallow for massive tankers, 90 per cent of Iran’s oil is exported via Kharg Island.
Oil is transported from the mainland to the island for supertankers to take out of the country. The terminal is able to load ten supertankers at once.
Last Saturday, the US president said he had destroyed every military target on what he described as “Iran’s crown jewel”.
“For reasons of decency, I have chosen NOT to wipe out the Oil Infrastructure on the Island,” he said.
“However, should Iran, or anyone else, do anything to interfere with the Free and Safe Passage of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz, I will immediately reconsider this decision.”
Occupying the island would dramatically inhibit Iran’s capacity to export its oil.
Meanwhile, CBS News reports the Pentagon has made detailed plans for a ground invasion of Iran.
But Trump denied the plans in an obtuse way.
“No, I’m not putting troops anywhere,” he said.
“If I were, I certainly wouldn’t tell you.”
Democrats have roundly decried any plans for ground troops being used against Iran.
“I cannot overstate what a disastrous decision it would be for President Trump to order American boots on the ground in this illegal war and send US troops to fight and die in Iran,” Senator Elizabeth Warren said.
Overnight Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei issued a statement praising the Iranian people’s steadfastness.
“The enemy has been defeated,” Khamenei said.
“(Iranians have) dealt him a dizzying blow so that he now starts uttering contradictory words and nonsense.”
US Central Command confirmed today that 232 American service members have been injured since the war began three weeks ago.
Of those, ten are seriously wounded, and 207 have been able to return to duty.
