Iran has threatened to destroy oil and energy facilities in the region that cooperate with the United States or are partially owned by the United States if Iran’s energy facilities are attacked, local media reported.
“All oil, economic and energy facilities belonging to oil companies in the region that are partly owned by the United States or that cooperate with the United States will be immediately destroyed and burned to ashes” if Iran’s energy assets are attacked, Iranian news agency Fars reported, the army’s Al-Anbiya Central Headquarters reported.
The warning came after US President Donald Trump confirmed that the US military had bombed the critical Iranian base on Kharg Island. Trump said the United States had not attacked the island’s oil infrastructure.
However, he warned that he would reconsider this if “Iran, or anyone else, [should] do anything that interferes with the free and safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz.”
The island is economically and strategically important to Iran, Australian National University expert Amin Saikal told ABC today.
“Something like 80 to 90 percent of Iranian crude oil is exported from that island to the outside world,” Saikal said.
