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Trump's plan to attack Iran again could spark a "major escalation."
12:29, Thu, Mar 26, 2026 Updated: 12:48, Thu, Mar 26, 2026
Iran's Kharg Island (Image: Getty)
Any attempt to take Kharg Island from Iran will end in "disaster", with US troops being left "vulnerable" and potentially even being killed, military experts have warned. Donald Trump has said that destroying or seizing the island, through which 90% of Iran's oil exports pass, would bring a swift end to the war.
Earlier this month, he ordered US forces to attack military targets on Kharg, but spared its refineries. However, alarm bells have begun ringing as to the viability of this as a long-term objective, with experts warning that it could actually have the opposite effect and lead to more conflict.
Trump has suggested destroying or seizing the island. (Image: Getty)
A former senior US military official told MS NOW that it would be "a disaster waiting to happen if that’s their mission".
Vali Nasr, a leading expert on Iran and professor at Johns Hopkins University, added that an attack on Kharg Island would result in "major escalation" as Iran launches a "war of resistance".
He told the outlet: "Taking Kharg means destroying it and Iran will respond with major escalation. Taking Iranian land and destroying its oil export depot will mean [the] beginning of a war of resistance in Iran."
The US President has also been trying to force Iran into reopening the Strait of Hormuz - the vital chokepoint through which a fifth of the world's oil supplies must pass.
However, experts are warning that this too may not go as he plans, and may subject US forces to "drone and terrorist attacks".
Senator Richard Blumenthal warned that 8,000 troops are not enough to reopen the Strait of Hormuz permanently. He said they could seize control of the waterway, but risk coming under attack in the future.
He said: "I strongly doubt 8,000 troops would be enough to take, hold and secure the territory necessary to truly secure the Strait of Hormuz. They’d be extremely vulnerable to drone and terrorist attacks, the longer they stay."
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Nicole Grajewski, an expert on Iran’s nuclear program and armed forces at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, also said the Trump administration is underestimating the task of controlling both Kharg and the Strait.
She said: "I think that is a far more difficult military mission than the administration understands. It’s such a small and compressed area."
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