US President Donald Trump has published AI-generated clips showing a missile attack on Iran’s Kharg Island oil hub amid a new escalation between Washington and Tehran.
US and Iranian forces earlier exchanged strikes for the first time since late July. On Sunday, the US Central Command said it had targeted two Iranian launchers on Larak Island, near the narrowest point of the Strait of Hormuz, which it claimed were preparing to fire rockets carrying sea mines into the waterway, accounting for some 20% of global crude oil trade. According to Tehran, the bombing killed several Iranian soldiers and civilians.
Iran retaliated early on Monday, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) saying its drones and missiles had inflicted “significant damage” on the US military’s King Hussein and Al-Azraq air bases in Jordan.
Following the strikes, oil prices went up in early trading in Asia, with WTI futures growing by 2.47% to $85.46 per barrel and Brent futures climbing by 2.71% to $90.49 per barrel.
Trump did not issue any immediate statements on the escalation on his Truth Social platform, instead posting two short AI-generated videos of multiple missiles striking oil facilities on an island and causing huge explosions.
“Kharg Island being blown to smithereens!!!” the caption to one of the videos read.
The head of the National Iranian Oil Company, Hamid Bovard, ridiculed Trump for posting the clips, saying that his “tweets are laughable and conditions in Kharg are calm and appropriate.”
The energy hub hasn’t been attacked, with routine oil operations continuing there, Bovard said, as cited by Nournews.
According to Reuters, there was no evidence of any strikes being carried out against Kharg Island.
Located around 25 km (15 miles) off Iran’s Gulf coast, Kharg Island handles around 90% of the country’s crude exports, serving as the primary outlet for its oil revenue. The coral outcrop, often referred to by the public as the “forbidden island” because of the tight security, also hosts a major oil storage facility.
The US struck military sites on Kharg Island several times after the start of the conflict in late February, but refrained from targeting energy infrastructure. Trump also mulled a ground operation to seize the oil hub, saying it could be carried out by US forces or by “other people.” However, those plans never materialized.
Tehran has warned repeatedly that it will set the whole oil and gas infrastructure of the US allies in the Gulf States “on fire” if energy facilities on Kharg island are hit or an attempt to capture it is made.