President Donald Trump has claimed Iran’s energy hub of Kharg Island is being “blown to smithereens”, alongside a AI video of an explosion.
The strategically-important location handles some 90 per cent of Iran’s oil exports, and taking it would give the U.S. the ability to disrupt Iran’s energy trade and place enormous pressure on the economy.
“Kharg Island being blown to smithereens!!! President DJT,” Trump posted on Truth Social late Sunday, alongside the AI-generated clip of an man in an aircraft overseeing fiery blasts in an oil field and harbor.
The White House and the U.S. Defense Department did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment on the president’s post, and it is not yet clear if an attack has actually happened.
Trump’s post comes after hostilities between the two sides resumed on Sunday.
The U.S. military attacked Iranian rocket launchers positioned in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, marking its first offensive operation in a month.
Explosions were heard near Larak Island, which lies around 400 miles east of Kharg, Iranian media outlets reported. Larak overlooks shipping lanes at the mouth of the Gulf, giving it a key role in tension over Iran, maritime security and global energy supplies.
In a statement, the U.S. Central Command said it took "limited, precise" action against minelaying forces of Iran's Revolutionary Guards that posed an "imminent threat" in the Strait of Hormuz. It gave no details.
Last week, Trump said all mines had been detonated or removed from the international waters of the Strait of Hormuz and Iran had been warned that any vessel placing new mines would be destroyed.
In retaliation, Iran launched ballistic missiles at Jordan, targeting two U.S. bases. Jordan's armed forces had intercepted eight missiles that entered its airspace, state television said.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said the attack killed and wounded several soldiers and citizens and vowed a "response and punishment" from Tehran, according to Iranian state media.
The Trump administration had shifted away from military action in recent weeks, stepping up efforts to punish Tehran and its business partners with costly economic sanctions.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said new secondary sanctions are likely to be unveiled weekly in the effort to pressure Iran, with an initial focus on banks.
“We're starting with the banks, and we're telling the banks it's not okay to have Iranian money and to aid the regime,” Bessent said Sunday.
After imposing penalties on the United Arab Emirates branches of Egypt's Banque Misr on Friday over alleged financial links to Iran, Bessent said the next step may be cutting off an institution entirely from the dollar-based financial system.
“You're going to see a lot more of these every week,” Bessent told Reuters, ahead of a meeting of Group of 20 finance leaders.
Amid the ongoing threats to shipping, the number of visible commodity vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz dropped to five a day over the weekend, shipping data showed.
The actual number could be higher as some vessels have switched off automatic identification systems to evade attacks.
While Trump has repeatedly said the Strait of Hormuz is open, Iran's Revolutionary Guards' navy had called those statements “an obvious lie”, reiterating that it remained closed to ships without Iranian permission.
The waterway carried nearly a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas shipments before it was blockaded in the six-month-old Iran war.
