Iran is accelerating development and infrastructure work at Kharg Island, its main oil export terminal, as U.S. President Donald Trump keeps threatening to bomb or seize it. Gulf states have separately backed an Omani plan letting Tehran collect voluntary fees on Strait of Hormuz traffic, and crude prices fell further on Tuesday after the pause in attacks.
Iran is speeding up 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. The Islamic Republic is looking to upgrade the safety and fire detection features at the oil terminal and crude oil storage tanks, work that runs alongside continued threats from the U.S. Administration that a failure in negotiations could result in extensive bombings and an attack on the island.
Abbas Assadrouz, head of the Iranian Oil Terminals Co., said the projects aim to “ensure the sustainable continuity of the country’s oil exports”.
Dark tankers gather off Kharg Island
Despite this week’s signals of de-escalation, Trump shared a series of AI-generated images on his Truth Social account on Monday, including one depicting American fighter jets bombing an island. Kharg 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.
Maritime intelligence firm Windward counted as many as 21 dark tankers around Kharg Island as of Saturday, just ahead of the most recent pause in attacks. That figure rose to 24 on Sunday, 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 the firm.
Oman’s voluntary-fee plan wins Gulf backing
Oman has won backing from Gulf states for a plan that would let Tehran collect voluntary fees to use the Strait of Hormuz, a Gulf source told Reuters on Tuesday. A Gulf source also said Oman presented the proposal to Iran as a joint regional mechanism under which Tehran would not exercise sole control of the waterway.
The system would be analogous to the one on Asia’s Strait of Malacca, where Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore ask ships to pay voluntary contributions to fund navigation, environmental protection and search-and-rescue operations. Yet Iran denies seeking to resume talks with the United States. Trump threatened to restart strikes unless negotiations deliver, while pointing to talks under way with Iran.
Oil prices tumbled by around 8% on Monday after the end of the U.S. bombing campaign over the weekend, and the fall continued on Tuesday. Brent crude futures were down more than 2.5% at around $86 a barrel by mid-morning on Tuesday.
Washington, for its part, wants to return to the status quo prior to the war, when ships passed freely with no payments, and says charging mandatory fees would be illegal.
Sources: Oilprice.com, Investing.com, Investing.com
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