Iran threatens strikes on US-linked oil infrastructure across region after Kharg Island attack

Iran's Armed Forces Unified Combatant issued a stark counter-threat within minutes of Trump's Kharg Island announcement, warning that any escalation targeting Iranian oil and energy infrastructure would trigger Iranian strikes against energy infrastructure owned by oil companies cooperating with the United States across the region. The threat is broadly worded and covers not just physical Kharg Island oil export terminals but also a wide array of potential targets in the Persian Gulf region: Gulf state oil facilities, offshore platforms, refineries, and tanker routes operating under US-linked company arrangements. Saudi Aramco infrastructure, UAE onshore and offshore facilities, and Qatar's LNG export operations — which have already experienced disruption from Iranian drone attacks — would all fall within the scope of this warning. The Iranian threat places the entire Gulf energy infrastructure on a hair-trigger: if Trump follows through on his Hormuz ultimatum and strikes Kharg oil terminals, Iran has now publicly committed to a regional energy war affecting global oil supply at a scale far beyond the current conflict footprint. Oil markets had already surged following the Hormuz mining reports and QatarEnergy LNG disruption. Iran's counter-threat is designed to raise the economic cost calculus for any US decision to escalate further against Kharg infrastructure.