U.S. Just REMOVED The Last Thing Keeping Iran Alive
The military infrastructure on the Iranian mainland has been shattered.
Now the US is turning its sights toward more strategic targets.
K Island is one of them.
A key oil and military hub for Iran, this tiny island has been rocked as the US reigns hell upon it.
Iran is losing everything.
The last thing keeping it alive is falling out of the regime’s grip.
And if the US follows through, turning K Island into a wasteland, Iran won’t recover for years.
To the average person, Kag Island doesn’t seem all that important.
A small coral island in the northern Persian Gulf region, it lies about 55 km or 34 mi northwest of the Iranian port of Pusher.
For a long time, it was uninhabited.
But after Iran’s mineral boom in the 20th century, Kag Island became key to the country’s oilbased prosperity.
A crude oil terminal and loading facilities were built on the island in the 1960s.
And by the mid2020s, this tiny island had the capacity to load 10 super tankers at the same time.
Keep all of this oil business in mind.
It’ll be very important later.
But for now, that oil industry alone placed Car Island on the US map in terms of strategic locations that should be considered for attack.
Throw in some military facilities, which we’ll also cover later, and you get an island that is much more than meets the eye.
The US knew it.
And on the night of March 13th, the announcement came in.
The US had attack.
Targeted strikes rocked the entire island, US President Donald Trump declared on March 13th.
And the focus lay on the military targets that sat on the island.
Trump explained in a truth social post, stating, “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, K Island.
He added that the US has left itself a little leverage that it can still hold over the island as KG’s oil facilities were supposedly left untouched.
But Trump’s mention of the island as Iran’s crown jewel gives rise to the obvious questions.
What makes K Island so important? And if not oil, what did the US actually hit? We’ll deal with the second of these questions first.
Militarily, K Island is a surprisingly strategic target.
As the Washington Post reports, the island is home to an airirst strip in its northeastern corner, which could theoretically be used by Iran’s air force to launch its aging fleet of fighter jets and airframes into the skies.
That hasn’t really been happening.
Iran knows that its old F4s and F5s and Soviet era fighter jets belong in a museum rather than an airspace being contested by American F-35s and fourth generation fighters.
But an airirstrip can be used to launch Shahid drones.
And Iran has been using its drones to attack targets across the Gulf region and in the straight of moose.
Kite Island is also home to several jetties that can be used for ship loading.
The Washington Post ads and surrounding the island is an entire network of military infrastructure built up to protect it.
Based both in mainland Iran and on several other small islands that surround K.
So right now at least bombing Kar Island into oblivion is about taking out military targets that Iran could use to threaten container and commercial shipping in the straight of Hormuz.
The size of the military buildup on Car Island may be even bigger than the Washington Post indicates.
As the BBC reports, US Central Command or Sentcom has claimed that the US hit more than 90 Iranian military targets on Kar Island while preserving the oil infrastructure.
According to Fars, which the BBC reports as being a semiofficial news agency in Iran, air defenses, a helicopter hanger, an airport control tower, and a naval base were among these 90 targets.
You would expect such an attack to have caused widespread casualties, but Iran is claiming that isn’t the case.
Deputy Governor of the Bushier province, Ishan Jianan, has claimed that no military personnel, oil companies, employees, or island residents suffered casualties in the attack, and all sectors are continuing their routine activities.
How true that is, at least on the military side, is yet to be seen.
But on the oil front, Car Island does indeed appear to be untouched.
That’s not because the US couldn’t hit the oil infrastructure.
It chose not to.
And as we’ll explain in a few moments, there’s a big reason why the US left Kag Island’s oil unscathed.
Let’s home in on that oil for a moment.
The real reason that Trump refers to Kag Island as the crown jewel of Iran is that it is the source of a huge amount of the Iranian regime’s income.
Why? Because of its status as an oil terminal.
Iran is a country that is rich in oil and gas.
It holds about 10% of the world’s proven oil reserves, the BBC says, which were estimated at 28.6 6 billion barrels back in 2024.
Throw 15% of the world’s proven gas reserves into the mix, and you see why an island that was built up specifically to handle these precious resources could become a crown jewel.
Card Island is connected to the Iranian mainland by a pipeline that pumps gallons upon gallons of crude oil into the island every single day.
About 90% of Iran’s crude oil flows through the terminal built on K Island, transported through pipes that are built onto the mainland.
And then there are the tankers.
Massive super tankers that are each capable of carrying up to 85 million gallons of oil can sail up to the island via its long jetties to pick up the oil flowing in due to the island being positioned in deep waters that allow these tankers to stay afloat.
Those same tankers wouldn’t be able to access Iran’s oil from ports on the mainland, making K Island the key to Iran’s shipping of huge quantities of its black liquid gold out of its territory and into the hands of its buyers.
Most of those tankers immediately head out of Kag Island and into the straight of Hummus, which Iran controls.
Then they’re off to wherever they need to go, which is typically China, as that country is Iran’s biggest oil customer.
Reuters reports that over 80% of the oil that Iran ships goes to this one client, which amounts to 1.38 million barrels per day.
In it short primer on the relationship between Iran and China, the US China Economic and Security Review Commission estimated that Iran likely sells its crude oil to China at a discount of $9 below the 2025 benchmark of $69 per barrel.
Some quick math tells us that this means that Iran generates about $82.8 million from its oil daily just through sales to China.
Expand that to an entire year and Iran makes over $30.2 billion from selling to China alone.
And 90% of that crude oil flows through K Island.
That is Kar Island’s true importance to the Iranian regime.
Losing the military infrastructure to the US bombing raid will sting.
It weakens the Kag Island’s defenses and also means that any effort Iran makes to use the island to maintain control over the Straight of Hummus is minimized.
But it’s the oil that is Iran’s true problem.
It is leverage for the US, serving as a looming threat for the Trump administration that it could come back at any time and take away the one thing that is keeping Iran alive.
But the US hasn’t gone that far with Car Island.
But before we explain why and how doing so would change everything for Iran, this is a quick reminder that you are watching the military show.
Make sure you’re subscribed to the channel if you want more insight as we break it down like this every single week.
Now, Iran’s crown jewel.
Why hasn’t the US hit its oil infrastructure yet? Some might argue that taking out Car Island’s military infrastructure is the US priority, and that may be the case as its bombers and fighter jets continue to wreck the Iranian regime’s military posture.
But according to Trump himself, not attacking K Island’s oil was less a strategic choice and more a choice made out of what he claims to be decency.
Our weapons are the most powerful and sophisticated that the world has ever known.
But for reasons of decency, I have chosen not to wipe out the oil infrastructure on the island.
Trump proclaimed in the same truth social post where he announced the US strike on the island.
And indeed, as the BBC reports, Yahan claims that the process of exporting oil from the island is fully underway in the wake of the US strike and that the oil companies based on the islands have been able to continue their operations without interruption.
But there’s a reason for that.
And if you stick with us to the end, you’ll discover that one of those reasons has something to do with the possibility that the US may have identified Car Island as the first place where it will put boots on the ground in Iran if the war goes that far.
First, the American decision to leave Car Island’s oil infrastructure alone isn’t so much about the decency that Trump claims, but is instead about the US having leverage over Iran.
Trump made that much clear in his truth social post immediately after making the claim about decency.
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, Trump said.
That’s what it’s really all about.
Protecting the straight of Hormuz and trying to bring some stability back to an oil sector that has seen prices skyrocket since the US launched Operation Epic View.
On the latter front, the US has been less than successful.
On March 16th, The Guardian reported that oil prices had climbed again in the wake of the US demolishing the military infrastructure on Kar Island.
Brent crude, which is the international benchmark for crude oil prices, rose by 1.8% during early trading on March 16th, hitting $14.98 per barrel after having already topped $100 the previous week for the first time since Putin launched his Ukraine invade.
This could be seen as an initial aftershock of the Kag Island strike that will settle down if Iran listens to Trump’s threats about future attacks if Iran doesn’t leave the straight form alone.
But right now, Iran may be wondering why it would want to change course at all.
Its regime is doing very well from these oil price increases.
The Financial Times reports that Iran has been loading between 1.5 and 1.6 6 million barrels of crude oil onto tankers daily since Operation Epic Fury began, which represents about $140 million per day of revenue due to the increased price of oil.
And that’s even with Iran’s discount supplied.
Perhaps that’s why Trump has claimed that the US may yet choose to take out Car Island’s oil infrastructure just for fun.
As the Guardian reports, behind the bravado is a clear problem emerging, which is that KG Island, even after the initial wave of attacks, is still allowing Iran to generate enormous sums of money that are even larger than they would have been if the US had never attacked.
Still, the US has the Trump card, pun slightly intended, of future strikes.
But whether it plays that card comes down to what happens with the straight of Hammoo in the coming days.
As Trump made clear, convincing Iran to leave that key waterway alone was the reason why the US destroyed Car Island’s military infrastructure.
That straight is the largest piece of leverage that Iran has.
About 20% of the world’s oil supplies transit the straight of Hummus every year, and losing it means that tankers have to take much longer routes to their destinations, hence the oil price shocks that we’ve seen in the wake of Operation Epic Fury.
Right now, the US is holding off.
Despite these price shocks, US Secretary of War Pete Hexath has said that what we’re seeing from Iran right now is more desperation than the application of leverage.
As the world is seeing, they are exercising sheer desperation in the Straits of Hammuz.
Hexath claimed during a March 13th briefing ahead of the US attacking K Island.
He added, “It’s something we’re dealing with.
We’ve been dealing with it.
Don’t need to worry about it.” Hexath also suggested that there is no evidence that Iran has been laying mines in the straight of Hammuds, which would be another method through which it could disrupt shipping beyond drone and fast attack boats, which in turn cause oil prices to continue to rise and Iran to profit through the very island that the US has struck.
The US has struck against Iran’s mine laying ships, reportedly taking out 16 of them.
So, there is some firepower and action to back Hexath’s claims.
However, commercial tanker and container shipping companies may not be so quick to agree with Hexath that there was no need to worry in the straight of Hormuz.
Despite all of Hexath’s claims, attacks are ongoing in and around the waterway.
On March 17th, the New York Times reported that a tanker anchored near a port in the United Arab Emirates had become the latest to be hit by a projectile since the beginning of the operation.
Granted, that was the first strike on a commercial ship near the Straight of Hormuz in 5 days, the outlet adds.
However, it comes in the wake of US calls for its European allies to help secure the strait being roundly rebuffed as it’s now clear that those allies are wary of getting themselves dragged into a war that they believe has little to do with them outside of the oil issues that it’s causing.
What this most recent attack tells us is that Iran hasn’t taken Trump’s warning to heart.
The straight of Hormuz still isn’t clear for safe transit.
And that brings us right back to K Island and the Trump card that the US still has left to play.
The military infrastructure on the island is gone.
Next up, the island itself.
Though Trump has threatened to strike K Island’s oil infrastructure, he may not do it in the way that many expect.
More bombs and missiles flying into the island would certainly wreck Iran from an economic perspective.
But it will also represent a massive escalation that would back Iran into such a tight corner that it starts striking like a rabid animal at anybody and everybody.
Plus, destroying a key oil transit point like Car Island won’t do much to help the oil price shocks that we’re seeing.
So, if the bombs aren’t going to start flying to take out the oil infrastructure, what is the US going to do instead? According to the Jerusalem Post, putting boots on the ground on Kag Island is a distinct possibility.
It claims that the US is considering seizing the island from Iran if the country’s regime and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps continue what they’re doing in the Straight of Hormuz.
Axios adds that the Trump administration has been discussing the seizure as far back as March 7th, which casts a whole new light on the initial strikes against Car Island.
They were a threat to Iran, of course, but they may have also been an example of the US laying the groundwork for a seizure that Iran will have no chance of stopping now that Car Island’s military infrastructure is in ruins.
The BBC says this seizure is a very distinct possibility.
There is even a concept of operations or conop that has been drawn up covering how the US might pull this off.
A conop is essentially a document that details different courses of action that can be taken for a country to achieve its military goals.
And so far it looks like the US has checked off most of the boxes that we can assume would go in that conop island.
The island’s air defenses have been suppressed during the initial attack.
We know that the US can gather as much intelligence as it needs through flyovers conducted by fighter jets, helicopters, and drones such as the MQ9 Reaper.
What the US has to figure out now is how it’s actually going to get troops onto the island and how those troops would suppress enemy fire and ultimately take Car Island away from Iran.
The BBC suggests that Delta Force might be the go-to operators for the US.
It posits a scenario in which Delta Force flies in on helicopters that take off from the coast of Q8.
That journey would take 70 minutes.
Add loiter time and you get 3 hours of flight, which brings refueling into play.
Air-to-air refueling would have to be done as Iran could attempt to contaminate fuel on the ground.
The outlet adds this aerial approach would overcome many of Iran’s strategies, which include the use of ballistic missiles, anti-ship missiles, and mines placed around the coast of Cara.
But it will be vulnerable to drones, especially as Iran has more than an hour to prepare for the coming of the US special operations forces.
But maybe there’s another way.
And far from being speculative, this method is one that the US seems to be actively preparing to execute.
As we speak, a deployment of about 2,500 US Marines is heading to the Middle East as part of an amphibious assault group that includes the USS Tripoli warship.
Those Marines are part of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit.
These units are America’s allpurpose forces.
They go in and solve problems, whether that be crisis resolution or as was the case during the war against Afghanistan in 2001, serving as the first boots placed on the ground by the US in a wider conflict.
Now, if Hexath is correct and there is no evidence that Iran has been laying mines in the straight of Hormuz or elsewhere, an amphibious landing on Kag Island becomes possible.
And what we might be seeing is that the US is prepping its Marine Expeditionary unit so that it’s ready to make that land if Iran doesn’t take America’s threats related to the Strait of Hummus seriously.
2,500 Marines may not be enough.
According to Francis Galano, who is a security specialist at Villanova University, the taking of K Island would involve moving a considerable number of ground combat troops into the region.
I estimate about 5,000 to take and hold the island.
The US is sending half that number to the Middle East.
Maybe more could be coming.
And if they are, Iran has a major problem.
The US bombing the Car Island oil infrastructure would be bad enough.
But if the US takes the island, Iran still loses its ability to sell its oil, and it has to deal with an escalation the likes of which it can’t counter.
Car Island has been set up for just such an occupation.
Its military infrastructure is gone.
The US has the air power needed to suppress Iran’s military on the surrounding islands and on the mainland.
With the loss of K Island, Operation Epic Fury would start to squeeze the Iranian economy, placing the regime in the difficult position of trying to fight as the oil money that is Iran’s main lifeline runs out.
What happens next on Kag Island could determine the fate of Iran’s regime.
And that regime is already struggling to contain America’s responses to its actions in the Straight of Hormuz.
After Iran hit three merchant ships in that waterway, the US responded with attacks that crippled the regime’s naval assets in hours.
Find out more about the brutal US strikes in our video.
And if you enjoyed this video, remember to subscribe to the Military Show to stay uptodate on the latest developments in Operation Epic Fury.
And thank you as always for watching.
