The bombs came first. The bounty followed. In a matter of hours, the United States reportedly delivered two blows to Iran, one military, one political. American forces struck Iran’s most valuable island. Washington then put a price on its new supreme leader’s head. Together, the moves signalled a sharp escalation in a conflict already reshaping the Middle East.
The Strike
US President Donald Trump announced that American forces had carried out a bombing raid on Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export hub located roughly 33 kilometres off its coast.
In a post, he said the strike, executed at his direction by US Central Command, destroyed the very military target on the island. He called it one of the most powerful bombing raids in the history of the Middle East. He added that American weapons were the most powerful and sophisticated the world had ever known.
The Crown Jewel
The island is Iran’s economic crown jewel, according to analysts. Nearly all of the country’s crude oil exports pass through it. Since the war began, Iran has exported around 13.7 million barrels of oil.
Satellite imagery showed multiple tankers loading crude at the facility, according to maritime intelligence firm TankerTrackers.com. The island also hosts large oil storage tanks, export infrastructure and housing for thousands of workers. Oil exports provide a significant share of Iran’s revenue, with shipments flowing to buyers including China.
Trump said the US deliberately stopped short of striking the oil infrastructure. That restraint, however, came with a condition. Should Iran, or anyone else, interfere with shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, he said, he would immediately reconsider. The Strait is one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints, with roughly a fifth of global oil shipments passing through it daily.
What Was Left Standing
The stakes of what was left untouched were not lost on energy analysts.
An energy researcher at the Royal United Services Institute reportedly said Kharg Island is vital to funding Iran’s government and military.
Without it, he added, it would be difficult for the country to function. He mentioned that control of the island is critical regardless of who governs Iran, describing it as the main node of its economy and a source of significant leverage in any future negotiations with Tehran.
Analysts also noted that a strike on Kharg would not only affect the current government in Tehran but could undermine the viability of any future government that might emerge.
Hours before the strike, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth had reportedly said that American forces would conduct the “most intense strikes” on Iran. Trump, in his post, warned Iran’s military forces to lay down their arms.
He said Iran had no ability to defend anything the US wanted to attack, and reiterated Washington’s long-standing position that Tehran must never obtain nuclear weapons.
The Prize
As the strikes landed, the State Department reportedly moved on a separate front.
Through its Rewards for Justice programme, the US announced a USD 10 million bounty for intelligence leading to Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, and other senior Iranian officials, including the interior minister and the minister of intelligence and security.
The programme offers financial compensation and relocation for information that helps locate individuals suspected of involvement in terrorism directed at the United States.
The programme’s social media update read: “Got information on these Iranian terrorist leaders? Send us a tip. It could make you eligible for a reward and relocation.”
The bounty announcement followed coordinated US-Israeli strikes on Iranian military installations on February 28, which had been met with retaliatory missile and drone offensives across the region.
‘Cancer’, ‘deranged scumbags’, the verbal grenades continue
The conflict is now in its second week, with drone and missile exchanges continuing. Trump told allies he had “got rid of a cancer that was threatening us all” while discussing the results of Operation Epic Fury.
He claimed the Iranian government was “about to surrender” and described the broader campaign as an effort to destroy what he called the terrorist regime of Iran. He labelled Iranian leaders “deranged scumbags” and said it was his “great honour” to eliminate them.
The gazelles that roam freely near Kharg Island’s refineries and depots, an unusual detail noted in reports, are, for now, still there. The oil infrastructure around them is perhaps not.
