Fearing attack by Trump on Kharg Island, Iran exporting oil through a very lesser known port: Report

Donald trump has repeatedly threatened Iran with attack and capture of Kharg island, considered the country's economic lifeline as it accounts for more than 90% of Iran’s oil exports. Trump in an interview to Financial Times a week back had said he wants to "take" Iran's oil and was considering seizing Kharg Island. But he also mentioned that this would require US to be there for a while.

This is why Iran has shifted its focus to a lesser known Jask port, which has been largely inactive for years. Since the war broke out after US and Israel launched a combined air strike on Iran, millions of barrels of oil has been shipped by Tehran through this port, according to an analysis of satellite imagery, reported The Sunday Times.

Why Iran chose this port?

Jask, which is 95 miles east of the Strait of Hormuz, is a secondary option for Iran if trumps acts on his threats to seize Kharg Island, that accounts for more than 90% of Iran’s oil exports

Petras Katinas, an oil and gas specialist at the Royal United Services Institute, a UK defence think tank said, “The Iranian economy is heavily dependent on crude oil exports,” as reported the media house.

“With this, they are trying to create a buffer and continue some revenue from exports. They are building redundancy and trying to add additional volume.

“That’s why they’re using the Jask terminal. Plus, they don’t need to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. This is plan B," he further said to The Sunday Times.

According to Synmax Intelligence, a data analytics company, two “very large crude carriers” capable of transporting two million barrels each, were detected loading oil at Jask within 15 days of each other, the report said.

Notably, before the war broke out the port which opened in 2021, had been used only once to export oil, in October 2024.