The US is weighing plans to occupy or blockade Iran’s Kharg Island to pressure the Islamic Republic to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Axios reports, citing four unnamed sources familiar with the matter.
Kharg Island processes 90 percent of Iran’s crude oil exports.
“He wants Hormuz open. If he has to take Kharg Island to make it happen, that’s going to happen. If he decides to have a coastal invasion, that’s going to happen. But that decision hasn’t been made,” a senior administration official tells Axios.
Taking over Kharg would likely require a massive US ground troop presence.
“We’ve always had boots on the ground in conflicts under every president, including Trump. I know this is a fixation in the media, and I get the politics, but the president is going to do what’s right,” a second senior official says, adding that no decision had been made.
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