Iran claims Kharg Island oil exports continue normally despite US military strikes

Iran's official IRNA news agency reported that oil exports from Kharg Island continue at normal volumes despite the overnight US military strikes, citing a senior provincial official. The claim, while from a state-controlled source, aligns with the US military's own characterization of the Kharg strikes: CENTCOM stated that the strikes targeted storage sites for missiles and mines, and that economic infrastructure was not targeted. Kharg Island handles approximately 90% of Iran's crude oil exports — roughly 1.3-1.5 million barrels per day at pre-war levels, though sanctions have reduced official export numbers significantly. The island's oil infrastructure includes loading terminals, storage tanks, pumping stations, and the offshore single-point mooring systems that load supertankers at sea. The US military's explicit statement that Kharg's economic infrastructure was not targeted creates a strategic paradox: Trump simultaneously threatened to 'wipe out' oil infrastructure on Kharg if Iran continued blocking Hormuz, while the actual strikes hit only military sites. This could reflect: a) Deliberate restraint to preserve a credible escalation threat, b) Legal/policy constraints on targeting civilian economic infrastructure, c) A deliberate signal that oil infrastructure remains as a deterrent. If Iran's claim is accurate and oil exports are unaffected, the economic leverage of the Kharg strikes is limited to the psychological and military domains — degrading IRGC missile storage and mine capacity — rather than the direct revenue impact Trump implied.