Overview of Khark Island [AFP=Yonhap News]

A surprise US airstrike targeting Khark Island, Iran's key oil export base, has reportedly hit about 90 military facilities there.

The US Central Command, which is conducting military operations against Iran, announced on its X (formerly Twitter) account on the 14th (local time) that "Last night, US forces carried out a large-scale precision strike on Iran's Khark Island."

It further explained, "This attack destroyed naval mine storage facilities, missile bunkers, and various other military installations (on Khark Island)," adding, "US forces successfully struck over 90 Iranian military targets on Khark Island."

Khark Island is a 22 square kilometer coral island in the northern Persian Gulf, serving as an oil export terminal that handles 950 million barrels annually, accounting for approximately 90% of Iran's crude oil exports.

US President Donald Trump had previously stated on his social media platform Truth Social that Khark Island is Iran's "crown jewel (most precious asset)" and that "all military targets there have been completely destroyed."

Khark Island, the economic "lifeline" and source of war funding for the Iranian regime, is equipped with steel walls, watchtowers manned by soldiers, and is heavily guarded by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The US airstrike conducted yesterday appears to have targeted these military facilities. The Central Command also released a video of the attack on military facilities on Khark Island.

Video of the Khark Island airstrike released by the US Central Command

The Central Command stated that "the oil infrastructure was preserved." President Trump also commented, "For reasons of dignity, I decided not to destroy the island's oil infrastructure."

The US forces' focus on striking military facilities on Khark Island while preserving the oil infrastructure is seen as an effort to pressure Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil export route in the Middle East that Iran has blockaded.

Another consideration might have been that further destruction of Khark Island's oil infrastructure could exacerbate international oil price volatility and could lead to an irreparable collapse of the Iranian economy. China is the main importer of crude oil exported through Khark Island.

On the 14th, the office of the governor of Iran's southern Bushehr Province, where Khark Island is located, stated to Iranian state television that "despite the US attack on Khark Island, the activities of companies at the oil export terminal are continuing normally."

Iranian state television described the island as having a population of 8,000, a university, a mosque, and an Assyrian Eastern Church, indirectly refuting the US military's claim of military facilities.

Some analysts suggest that yesterday's airstrike on military facilities on Khark Island may have been preparatory work for a US ground troop landing to seize the island.

AP and The New York Times (NYT) reported that up to three warships carrying approximately 2,500 US Marines are moving from the Indo-Pacific region to the Middle East, with the US non-profit Naval Research Institute's USNI News identifying the Tripoli and elements of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit as involved.

The Washington Post (WP) reported that the Marine Expeditionary Unit departing from Okinawa, Japan, includes landing craft, helicopters, F-35 fighter jets, and an infantry battalion of about 800 personnel.

It remains unclear how this troop deployment is connected to Khark Island. US officials have refused to comment on whether a ground operation on Khark Island is planned, according to WP.