Sunday, March 15, 2026

Trump: CENTCOM ‘totally obliterated’ military targets on Kharg Island - JNS Staff

 

by JNS Staff

The Israeli defense minister said that the war has entered its decisive stage, between Iran’s attempt to survive and its forced surrender.

 

U.S. President Donald Trump visits the El Arepazo Doral restaurant in Miami, March 9, 2026. Credit: Daniel Torok/White House.
U.S. President Donald Trump visits the El Arepazo Doral restaurant in Miami, March 9, 2026. Credit: Daniel Torok/White House.

U.S. forces executed successful strikes against military targets on Kharg Island, the Iranian territory in the Persian Gulf that hosts a port for the export of up to 90% of the Islamic Republic’s oil products, and storage for up to 30 million barrels of oil, President Donald Trump said overnight Friday.

“Moments ago, at my direction, the United States Central Command executed one of the most powerful bombing raids in the History of the Middle East, and totally obliterated every MILITARY target in Iran’s crown jewel, Kharg Island,” the president wrote on Truth Social.

“For reasons of decency,” he continued, “I have chosen NOT to wipe out the Oil Infrastructure on the Island. However, should Iran, or anyone else, do anything to interfere with the Free and Safe Passage of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz, I will immediately reconsider this decision.”

He added that Iran’s military “would be wise to lay down their arms, and save what’s left of their country, which isn’t much!”

 

U.S. Central Command posted footage on X of the strikes on Kharg Island, saying that more than 90 targets were destroyed.

These consisted of naval mine storage facilities, missile storage bunkers and other military sites, according to CENTCOM.

Iran again vowed on Thursday to close the Strait of Hormuz, a critical maritime passageway for the global supply of oil.

On Tuesday, Trump warned Tehran that if it “does anything that stops the flow of oil within the Strait of Hormuz, they will be hit by the United States of America twenty times harder than they have been hit thus far.”

In a separate Truth Social post on Friday night, Trump asserted that “Iran had plans of taking over the entire Middle East, and completely obliterating Israel. JUST LIKE IRAN ITSELF, THOSE PLANS ARE NOW DEAD!”

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, in a situational assessment held on Saturday morning, said in a recorded statement that the war has entered its decisive stage, adding that only the Iranian people can bring the conflict to an end “through determined struggle—until the fall of the terror regime and the salvation of Iran.”

Convening with the top brass of Israel’s defense establishment at the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv, Katz commended Trump for the “heavy blow delivered last night” against the Iranian oil island, which is “an appropriate response to the mining of the Strait of Hormuz and the extortion attempts of the Iranian terror regime.”

Katz said that the Islamic Republic’s terrorist acts are being met with a “strong and uncompromising steel force. We are entering the decisive stretch of the conflict: between the regime’s attempts to survive—while causing increasing suffering to the Iranian people—and surrender.”

Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces continued to attack the Islamic Republic. On Friday night, the Israeli Air Force struck dozens of sites belonging to the regime across Tehran.

“As part of the strikes, the IDF destroyed the main center for space research of the Iranian Space Agency, which belongs to the regime’s forces,” the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said in a statement on Saturday.

The center’s laboratories were used for research and development of military satellites for various purposes, including surveillance and fire guidance toward targets across the Middle East, according to the statement.

Aerial-defense system manufacturing sites were also attacked, the military added.

“The completed strikes are part of the phase of deepening the damage to the core systems of the Iranian terror regime and its foundations,” the IDF noted.

Earlier on Friday, dozens of IAF fighter jets struck more than 150 military sites in western and central Iran, the IDF said in a separate statement.

Weapons storage facilities and dozens of ballistic missiles and missile launchers were hit. In addition, the IAF struck unmanned aerial vehicle storage facilities, defense systems and systems that were used to produce weapons, the army added.

Since the start of “Operation Roaring Lion” on Feb. 28, the IAF has completed hundreds of waves of strikes targeting Iranian infrastructure to reduce missile fire on Israel.


JNS Staff

Source: https://www.jns.org/trump-centcom-totally-obliterated-military-targets-on-kharg-island/

Follow Middle East and Terrorism on Twitter

No comments:

Post a Comment