Explosions recorded near the Iranian island of Jarg after alleged US attack

Several explosions were recorded this Saturday near the strategic Iranian island of Jarg, in the Persian Gulf, according to several local media outlets, which claim that it was a US attack that targeted a small oil tanker.

The Tasnim news agency, linked to the Revolutionary Guard, the parallel army that forms the backbone of the Islamic regime, has reported that the boat was attacked by the US army 10 kilometers from the island. According to Tasnim and the news portal Nournews, the vessel has been hit by four projectiles, but the crew is safe and the process of unloading its tanks could begin. For now there has been no official confirmation, neither Iranian nor American, about this possible attack.

The island of Jarg managed 90% of Iran's oil exports before the war started by the United States and Israel on February 28. An offensive on its facilities would seriously affect its economy, already damaged by Washington's blockade and sanctions.

Since February, Trump has repeatedly threatened to raze it. This week, the American president published a video generated by artificial intelligence on his social networks that showed the false destruction of the island. Iranian authorities have repeatedly said they will respond firmly to any attack on the island.

On Friday, in a meeting with the press, Trump also threatened again to attack Pickaxe Mountain in Iran, located near the Natanz uranium enrichment complex. The site is a highly protected underground facility where the United States says Iran could be enriching uranium for military purposes.

Saturday's incident in Jarg follows a week of cross-attacks between the two countries. On Monday, Washington attacked Iran for the first time since July with the aim of countering Iran's "attempts of aggression" against commercial shipping in the crucial Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's crude oil transited before the war. Now, it has become Tehran's main measure of pressure since it has managed to paralyze a large part of oil exports from the Persian Gulf.

At least twenty Iranians have been killed in various US bombings this week, including at least four civilians who were attending a wedding on Tuesday in the small coastal town of Kuhestak, in Hormozgan province, facing the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran responded to these attacks and announced bombings against several of the Persian Gulf countries that host US military facilities or personnel such as Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait.