{"id":824635,"date":"2026-03-14T05:58:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T05:58:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/824635\/"},"modified":"2026-03-14T05:58:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T05:58:17","slug":"military-targets-on-irans-key-oil-export-island-totally-obliterated-trump-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/824635\/","title":{"rendered":"Military targets on Iran\u2019s key oil export island \u2018totally obliterated\u2019, Trump says"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Potential troop movements suggests Washington is weighing its optionspublished at 05:28 GMT<\/p>\n<p>05:28 GMT<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-5adjh7-Contributor etflsgg2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/ff74dca3-0b3e-42fb-be20-a9742026b497.jpg.webp.webp\" width=\"64\" height=\"64\" class=\"ssrcss-egie1y-Image edrdn950\"\/><strong>Paul Adams<\/strong><br \/>Diplomatic correspondent<\/p>\n<p>      <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A map of Iran showing the locations of major oil and gas facilities. Black squares mark oil refineries, including one near Tehran. Blue circles mark oil terminals along Iran\u2019s southern coastline on the Gulf, with a label identifying Kharg Island as Iran\u2019s largest oil terminal. Neighbouring countries such as Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE are shown west of Iran, with the Caspian Sea to the north. A small inset map highlights Iran\u2019s position on a world map.\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/aadf256e-d150-4ae9-9a61-d99271128541.png.webp.webp\"  width=\"1280\" height=\"1472\" class=\"ssrcss-egie1y-Image edrdn950\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">It\u2019s being widely reported in US media that the American military is sending additional forces to the Gulf, including what\u2019s known as an amphibious ready group (ARG), with up to 5,000 Marines and sailors.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli will join the substantial armada already operating off the coast of Iran.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">It\u2019s not clear which other vessels will accompany the Tripoli, but an ARG typically includes ships capable of carrying landing craft, as well as large numbers of helicopters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The latest deployments suggest the Pentagon is considering an expanded range of options. These could include protecting commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and conceivably some kind of limited amphibious landing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">One possible objective is Iran\u2019s tiny Kharg Island, in the northern Gulf.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Lying 22 miles off the Iranian mainland, Kharg is a vital oil hub, where tankers have been seen filling up with Iranian oil since the war began two weeks ago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Potential troop movements suggests Washington is weighing its optionspublished at 05:28 GMT 05:28 GMT Paul AdamsDiplomatic correspondent It\u2019s&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":824636,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5311],"tags":[49,978,659],"class_list":{"0":"post-824635","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-united-states","9":"tag-us","10":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116225999220468402","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=824635"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824635\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/824636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=824635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=824635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=824635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}