Iran looks to accelerate infrastructure projects at its main oil export terminal at Kharg Island, amid on-and-off threats by U.S. President Donald Trump to either bomb or seize the island.
The Islamic Republic is speeding up the completion of development and infrastructure projects at Kharg Island, which handles about 90% of all Iranian oil exports, bne IntelliNews reported on Tuesday, citing Iran's Shana News Agency.
“These projects aim to enhance safety, increase equipment reliability, boost operational readiness and ensure the sustainable continuity of the country's oil exports,” Abbas Assadrouz, head of the Iranian Oil Terminals Co. (IOTC), was quoted as saying by the outlet.
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Iran is looking to upgrade the safety and fire detection features at the oil terminal and crude oil storage tanks amid continued threats from the U.S. Administration that a failure in negotiations could result in extensive bombings and an attack on Kharg Island.
Despite this week's signals of de-escalation in the U.S.-Iran flare-up of the past two weeks, President Trump shared on Monday a series of AI-generated images on his Truth Social account, including one picturing a “strike on Kharg” with American fighter jets bombing an island.
Kharg Island continues to act as Iran's key conduit of oil exports, with activities in dark mode to avoid detection on site and the U.S. blockade east of the Strait of Hormuz, which was reinstated two weeks ago when hostilities returned.
As many as 21 dark tankers were around Kharg Island as of Saturday, just ahead of most recent pause in attacks, according to data by maritime intelligence firm Windward. On Sunday, 24 dark tankers were in the waiting area, up from 21 the prior day, with three new arrivals including a tanker of approximately 320 meters and a pair of approximately 226 and 211 meters, per SAR imagery analyzed by Windward.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
