Where is Kharg Island as Donald Trump threatens to take Iran's "Forbidden Island"

Donald Trump has openly considered seizing Iran’s Kharg Island oil terminal in the Persian Gulf amid continued attacks by the United States and Israel on the Islamic Republic.

As a diplomatic effort being facilitated by Pakistan toward ending the war continues, US president Mr Trump said Iran had agreed to allow 20 oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz starting on Monday as “a sign of respect”.

At the same time, with 2,500 US marines now in the region and a similar sized contingent on its way, Mr Trump raised the idea of taking Iran’s Kharg Island. “Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don’t,” he told the Financial Times in an interview published early on Monday. “We have a lot of options.”

In the interview with the Financial Times, Trump suggested it could mean a longer-term commitment if the US decided to try and take Kharg Island, saying “it would mean we had to be there for a while”. “I don’t think they have any defence,” he added. “We could take it very easily.”

Kharg Island map

Where is Kharg Island?

Kharg Island - also spelled Khark Island - has restricted access and is guarded by the Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which has led to its moniker "Forbidden Island”.

The island in the Persian Gulf is 16 miles off the coast of Iran and 410 miles northwest of the Strait of Hormuz. Presumably of particular interest to the US President is Kharg Island also provides a sea port for the export of up to 90% of Iran's oil products, as well as supplying storage for up to 30 million barrels of oil.

The island lies close to several offshore oil fields, including the Faridun, Darius, Cyrus, and Ardašir fields. Before it developed into a major oil terminal in the 1960s, Iranian writer Jalal Al-e-Ahmad famously called the island "The Orphan Pearl of the Persian Gulf.”