Breaking News : U.S. Official Warns Against Kharg Island Ground Operation: “Giving Iran a Bunch of Hostages on an Island”
Former National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent has issued a stark warning against any U.S. ground operation to seize Kharg Island, Iran’s critical oil export hub, as internal deliberations over the move intensify inside Washington.
Kent cautioned that deploying U.S. troops to the island would be a catastrophic miscalculation, arguing it would “essentially be giving Iran a bunch of hostages on an island that they could barrage with drones and missiles.”
The warning comes as senior U.S. officials have reportedly briefed counterparts in Israel and allied nations that a ground military operation to occupy Kharg Island is under active consideration, as part of broader efforts to pressure Iran into ending its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
Kent, who resigned from his position citing his assessment that Iran posed no imminent threat to the United States, is now one of the most prominent voices pushing back against further escalation in the Gulf.
Kharg Island accounts for the vast majority of Iran’s crude oil exports. Any military operation targeting the island would mark a dramatic and potentially irreversible escalation in the ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict.
The debate over Kharg Island reflects the deepening divide within Washington over how far the current military campaign against Iran should go.
Source: Washington Post