In a very bold move yesterday, our military launched a targeted strike on Iran’s Kharg Island. President Trump announced that move on Truth Social.

🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/pkODSYMAo4

— DOW Rapid Response (@DOWResponse) March 13, 2026

It’s a hugely bold move for a number of reasons. First, Kharg Island oil refineries were built by the Shah of Iran. Because of the logistics and lack of depth in that area of the Persian Gulf and particularly around the Strait of Hormuz, tanker ships couldn’t dock on Iran’s direct shores to load up crude oil. Hence the Shah had Kharg Island built up with pipelines and refineries. 

Thus it’s a hugely strategic and economic location for Iran and their oil customers. 

The island, located roughly 35 miles off Iran’s Bushehr province in the country’s southwest, is about the size of New York City’s Central Park, but carries huge importance for Iran’s economy.

It has a loading capacity of about 7 million barrels per day, and roughly 90% of Iran’s crude oil exports pass through it. Most of those exports are shipped to China and India, underscoring the island’s importance not only to Iran’s energy trade but also to broader global oil markets.

Oil flowing from Kharg accounts for about 40% of Iran’s profits. If those refineries are shut down, the country’s economy is done. 

The Iranian Mullah Regime cannot meet the payroll of the Regime Security Forces…

…so, it is stealing the next payroll from everyone else.

Food security issues started the last Iranian mass insurrection. The Mullah Regime just lit the short fuze for the next one. https://t.co/xIIQaxfTWe

— Trent Telenko (@TrentTelenko) March 10, 2026

So, it was indeed quite the strategic move to target the military installations and leave the oil refineries alone. 

Keep in mind, Iran’s military used Kharg as a jumping off point to deploy drones and explosive-laden boats into the Strait and Persian Gulf.

Iran is deploying explosive-laden drone boats disguised as wooden fishing vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, a defense expert has warned — a move that signals a new phase of hybrid maritime warfare in one of the world’s most critical shipping lanes.

Cameron Chell, CEO of drone technology firm Draganfly, spoke after the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) confirmed that a Marshall Islands–flagged oil tanker was struck March 1 by an Iranian unmanned surface vehicle north of Muscat, Oman.

“UKMTO has received confirmation that the vessel was attacked by an uncrewed surface vehicle (USV), and that the crew has been evacuated to shore,” UKMTO said in a threat assessment.

Obliterating their military installations is a good step in halting the use of drones, dropping mines, and deploying bomb-laden boats to impede tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. 

What is interesting is that this move looks to be one right out of a mission playbook developed not long after 52 Americans were taken hostage in 1979.

In 1979, after radical students loyal to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini took 52 American diplomats hostage, President Jimmy Carter tasked Adm. James “Ace” Lyons to come up with a plan to compel their release.

Lyons proposed blockading Iranian ports and seizing Kharg Island. His logic was simple: The Revolutionary regime could not afford a cessation of its oil exports.

Carter’s aides ultimately rejected the plan; they feared a blockade sliding into direct conflict, something Carter himself had ruled out in the emergency National Security Council meeting that occurred just after the hostage seizure. Carter’s fear and self-deterrence kneecapped his administration and empowered Khomeini to extort the United States.

Only when Ronald Reagan took office did Khomeini release the hostages, fearing what might come next.

Of course Carter balked. Which led to Americans being held for 144 days. What is also interesting is that Reagan either borrowed from or used part of the plan in 1988 and targeted two smaller islands off of Kharg. Iran didn’t mess with the U.S. much for the rest of Reagan’s time in office. 

So, the question is…did Trump resurrect the Lyon plan? It sure seems like it.

Of course, there will be pearl clutching from all the usual suspects, which will be quite fun to watch over the next few days. Politico, in writing their report on Trump’s Kharg Island move, dropped this little gem at the end.  

The strategic purpose of the strikes on the island were not clear, but the threat of future strikes on oil infrastructure marks a significant escalation of the U.S. effort to secure the Strait of Hormuz. Trump has indicated he would send the Navy to escort ships through the critical waterway after Iran’s ships effectively closed it in response to the war.

Oh gee, I dunno. Blowing up the military installations of a terrorist country that thrives on threatening the worlds oil supply going through the Strait of Hormuz has a pretty darned obvious strategic purpose! Then again, Politico is being deliberately obtuse here. 

This targeted attack went after military installations on Kharg that included missile and mine storage facilities. Iran, using their possibly incapacitated new leader Mojtaba to threaten tanker traffic through the area, obviously didn’t think things through. They have yet to fully realize that Trump won’t back down like Carter or most of the succeeding Presidents did. 

Trump is deploying a multi-layered strategy to get Iran to back down and accept reality. Is the Lyon plan part of that chess game? Only time will tell. 

Feature Photo Credit: Iran flag and oil derricks via iStock, cropped and modified