DONALD Trump could be poised to choke out Iran by seizing its key oil terminals after blitzing military targets on Kharg Island.
Navy Seals, assault submarines and stealth helicopters will be preparing for the sign off on the “dangerous” mission – and cut off the murderous regime’s economic jugular once and for all.
Trump last night unleashed the ultimate act of deterrence as he “totally obliterated every MILITARY target in Iran’s crown jewel”.
But the US president hinted crucial oil infrastructure on the island will be hit too – “should Iran, or anyone else” continue to disrupt shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
Now, Kharg Island – where 90 per cent of Iran’s oil is stored and shipped from – could become the battleground where Trump checkmates Iran’s crumbling regime.
Oil exports make up around 40 per cent of Iran’s budget, and wrestling this tiny five-mile island from the clutches of barbaric clerics would throttle its ability to fund weapons wreaking havoc across the Middle East.
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And Iran would no longer be able to bankroll bloodthirsty proxy groups, including Hezbollah or the Houthis – or its nuclear scheme.
With Operation Epic Fury now two weeks in, Trump is now mulling whether to pull the trigger on an unprecedented raid on the vulnerable island.
Despite Trump’s warning, US Marine Corps veteran Jonathan Hackett told The Sun that blitzing the crucial facility would unlikely be tabled in Washington.
“I do not think destroying the infrastructure would be an option presented to the president due to the importance of this node to the oil and gas industry globally, particularly after the conflict ends,” he said.
“Instead, the mission would be a seizure.”
Hackett, who worked on planning staffs for seizures like this, revealed there are four entities capable of executing a raid – Maritime Raid Forces, the 75th Ranger Regiment, a SOCOM/joint seizure, or combined forces.
But he said their goals would be the same: prepare the environment, assault Kharg Island, seize the infrastructure, hold the island, and transition the island to follow-on forces.
Trump could then use the intact oil terminals for the ultimate power play – ensuring whoever rules Iran next does so under Washington’s thumb.
Kenneth Katzman, who briefed Congress for 31 years on Iran in his role as a Middle East Analyst, told The Sun: “Kharg [could be used] as a bargaining chip with what’s left of the regime and basically say you’ll get it back when our demands are met.”
Iran – reeling from the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – is threatening to attack Western ships in the vital Strait of Hormuz, while letting Russian and Chinese tankers through.
By taking Kharg – which is separated from Iran by 15 miles of sea – the US would control who loads up Iran’s oil.
After executing what Trump called the “most powerful bombing raids in the history of the Middle East” on military sites on Kharg last night, the president could now send in Special Forces to seize the port.
A Navy amphibious warfare task force set sail towards the Persian Gulf with 2,500 marines as air strikes rained down around in the island,
Trump insisted US warplanes have only so far hit military targets – carefully avoiding damage to oil installations that US special forces and marines may be planning to secure.
This could start with midnight assaults led by submarine-inserted underwater Seal teams, commandos roping down from stealth helicopters, and HALO parachute jumps onto the island.
Larger landings would then follow to take full control of Iran’s economic heart.
Ex-US Special Forces Colonel Ron MacCammon told The Sun: “Highly trained Navy Seals would spearhead the assault, seizing the main control centres and terminals to take control of Iran’s only harbour deep enough for oil tankers.”
Seal Team Six would neutralise remaining IRGC command bunkers, flattening any resistance with 800-round per minute bursts from HK416 assault rifles attached with lethal grenade launchers.
Elite army Rangers could take the airfield at Kharg’s northern end in a Tactical Airborne Landing Operation.
Blacked-out C-130s would crash land to unload 50 to 100 heavily armed shock troops using four scoped night vision goggles for lateral sight to spot threats within a 180-degree radius.
Snipers would be dropped by SOAR MH-60 Blackhawk helicopters onto towers to set up telescopic 50 caliber-barrett rifles as MH-6 “Mini bird” gunships pour 30mm chain gun and rocket fire on IRGC missile and artillery positions.
Helicopter-mounted sonic weapons could paralyse troop concentrations as laser beams fired from the sensor cones disable the heat-seeking and infrared guidance systems of Russian SAMs that may come at them.
Reaper Drones with AI-activated Hellfire missiles would provide a further layer of air cover, seeking out launch signals from 50,000 ft altitudes.
Professor Evan Ellis of the US Army War College said: “There are a thousand ways we could take Kharg.
“The problem is holding it.”
Trump could have been waiting for Iran’s navy to be totally destroyed to move on to Kharg.
At least 70 Iranian warships including drone carriers, frigates, submarines and mine laying boats have already been sunk by US warplanes, the Pentagpn said.
Island seizures were being practiced all during the buildup to Epic Fury.
Amphibious landings by 3000 US Marines, together with Israeli and even some Saudi Arabian units could follow the Special Forces take down.
MacCammon said: “A lot of air defence could need to be brought in.”
Ellis added: “Kharg would become a drone magnet.”
Hackett, who spent two decades across special operations and intelligence, explained how one of four mission profiles could be used.
Four possible mission profiles to seize Kharg
SEIZING Kharg can be done with one of four mission profiles, Jonathan Hackett told The Sun.
Hackett, who served 20 years as a U.S. Marine Corps interrogator and special operations capabilities specialist, explained:
The mission goals would be the same across the four entities noted below: prepare the environment, assault Kharg Island, seize the infrastructure, hold the island, and transition the island to follow-on forces.
These five stages would become the phases of the operation: Phase 0 (prepare the environment), Phase 1 (assault), Phase 2 (seize), Phase 3 (hold), Phase 4 (transition).
1. Seize with the MRF
Marine Corps Maritime Raid Forces (MRF) are specially trained, manned, and equipped to carry out exactly this mission profile.
These units were formed in the 1980s amid the Tanker War and Operation Praying Mantis (1988) in the Persian Gulf.
In particular, one of their primary mission profiles is to conduct “goplats operations,” which is short for Gas/Oil Platform Operations.
These operations include target area preparation, seizure of an opposed target facility (i.e., seizing it under fire), holding the facility, and transitioning the facility to nearby elements of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force deployed on an amphibious assault ship that is part of an amphibious readiness group or an aircraft carrier.
This option is doctrinally the most aligned to the MRF, in contrast to the following three options that may win out for political rather than operational reasons.
2. Seize with the 75th Ranger Regiment
A seizure with the 75th Ranger Regiment is not a normal use of this force, but the 75th has conducted seizures in the past through parachute insertion into a denied area (Operation Anaconda in 2001 being the most recent example).
However, the 75th would require significant operational support from both conventional and special operations units to enable the insertion and secure the surrounding area while the assault force moves onto and clears the target area.
3. Seize with SOCOM/Joint forces
A SOCOM/Joint force profile would employ a special operations raid force in Phases 0 through 2, while transitioning to a conventional force such as the 82nd Airborne or a Marine Expeditionary Unit’s amphibious forces to hold and transition the facility.
4. Seize with combined forces
“Combined forces” means US and foreign partners working together to achieve a military objective.
Here, a US-Israeli commando operation is the most likely mission profile.
This would include a combination of one or some of the three US-only units listed above, plus Israel’s Flotilla 13 (IDF maritime special operations forces) plus Sayeret Matkal (IDF special operations forces). Israel would also provide air support, aerial reconnaissance, preparation of the environment, and signals and human intelligence (via Mossad, Aman, and Unit 8200).
This operation would require basing, access, and overflight from partner states in the Gulf and Levant.
Some countries have presented difficulties in the past for these types of requests, such as Turkey refusing 5th Special Forces Group access in 2003 to enter Iraq and Kyrgyzstan pulling access permissions for entry into Afghanistan at the close of that war.
The operation would also require significant sustainment and logistics capabilities deployed relatively close to, or inside of, the enemy weapons engagement zone.
Kharg Island is well inside of Iran’s EEZ, which would present not only a challenge to those contingency logistics and sustainment requirements (things like fuel, medical, quick reaction force transport, etc.) but also the diplomatic challenges of negotiating basing, access, and overflight.
Out of the four scenarios, explained above, Hackett said the most senior military officer in the US Armed Forces would likely lobby for the MRF mission.
He added: “But the allure of special operations forces, combined with the importance of keeping a US-Israeli stamp on the operation, might militate toward using a combined force template.
“That includes US and Israeli special operations forces in the initial stages followed by US Marines from the Marine Expeditionary Unit in the latter phases.”
Today, with war in the Middle East raging on, Trump’s almost 40-year-old threat has never been closer to reality – and could see a risky mission play out
Greg Kennedy, Professor of Strategic Foreign Policy, told The Sun: “It’s certainly doable.
“But once you do that, then you’re tying yourself to a static position… now moving from the idea of regime change from the air to occupation.
“It’s a dangerous thing.
“When I say that they have the capability, this does not mean though that it would not come without a price.
“If you’re trying to wage a relatively bloodless, casualty-free campaign, the last thing you want to do is be performing the most dangerous military operation that there is – which is an amphibious operation against an enemy strong point.”
Trump flagged Kharg Island as a target decades ago.
Back in 1988, when he was still a New York property mogul, he said America should strike the island if Iran attacked US forces.
He said: “They’ve been beating us psychologically, making us look a bunch of fools.
“One bullet shot at one of our men or ships, and I’d do a number on Kharg Island. I’d go in and take it.”