Seizing Iran's 'crown jewel' would be a suicide mission

[Passages]

An operation to hold Tehran's oil hostage by taking over Kharg Island could end up delivering the regime hostages of its own


Analysis | Middle East
Region's Middle East Iran War
Harrison Mann
Mar 19, 2026

President Donald Trump is reportedly considering seizing Iran’s Kharg Island, which he calls Iran’s “crown jewel” because it houses a terminal that processes about 90% of Iran’s oil exports.

After the U.S. bombed Kharg last week but spared its oil facilities, leading Iran hawks urged Trump to finish the job. “Mr. President: Take Kharg Island [and] this war is over!” exhorted Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas), for his part, floated the idea that seizing the island is the perfect mission for the Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) now sailing toward the region.

So why is capturing this once-obscure island suddenly on the tip of every Iran hawk’s tongue? And what happens if they get their way?

Kharg Island has been on the map for Pentagon planners for decades. President Jimmy Carter weighed bombing it or seizing it during the 1979 Iran Hostage Crisis but demurred. Incredibly, in 1988, Donald Trump himself suggested seizing Kharg during his "Art of the Deal" book tour.
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/kharg-island-iran/

Link to tweet

Harrison J. Mann
Former Army/DIA, resigned over Gaza. Now working
@WinWithoutWar Non-Resident @DAWNMENAorg Writing @Zeteo_News
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[Irish_Dem]

1. Trump doesn't care.

[Passages]

2. Right.

I hope his fan base begins to realize he is a monster.

[gab13by13]

3. Lyndsey Graham brought up Iwo Jima

For a reason. Krasnov wants the photo op of Marines planting the American flag on Kharg.

[IcyPeas]

4. Iwo Jima: 26,000 American casualties, including 6,800 dead.

Did Lindsey mention this?

From Wikipedia:

The American victory at Iwo Jima had been extremely costly. According to the Navy Department Library, "the 36-day assault resulted in more than 26,000 American casualties, including 6,800 dead."[69] By comparison, the much larger-scale 82-day Battle of Okinawa lasting from early April until mid-June 1945 (involving five U.S. Army and two Marine Corps divisions) resulted in over 62,000 U.S. casualties, of whom over 12,000 were killed or missing. Iwo Jima was also the only U.S. Marine battle where the American casualties exceeded those of the Japanese,[70] although Japanese combat deaths numbered three times as many as American KIA. Two U.S. Marines were captured during the battle, neither of whom survived their captivity.[citation needed]

[Passages]

6. My hope is more Republicans speak up against it:

The comments drew swift pushback even from members of his own party. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., called the remarks “unacceptable and dark.” Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., called out Graham in a series of posts about sending in ground troops and deploying “someone else’s kids to war.”
https://www.ms.now/news/trump-iran-war-ground-troops-kharg-island

snip*
A former senior U.S. military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told MS NOW that “it’s a disaster waiting to happen if that’s their mission” to seize Kharg Island.

Vali Nasr, a leading expert on Iran and professor at Johns Hopkins University, said that if Karg is attacked, the Iranian regime would respond with escalation, not capitulation.

[NickB79]

5. If Iran loses Kharg, they'll go scorched earth on the ME's infrastructure

If they can't export oil, no one can.

[Passages]

7. It is a nightmare scenario, yes.