Striking Kharg Island only affects US, European-linked oil companies: former IRGC commander

The recent strikes on Kharg Island have not put pressure on Iran but will affect American and European-linked oil companies, a former commander in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Saturday.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) on Saturday, Hossein Kanani Moghaddam, who is also a military analyst, said that Iran had made preparations in advance to reduce dependence on the Strait of Hormuz, well before the U.S. strikes on Iranian islands, including the Kharg, which was targeted and hit by the U.S. forces.

"As you know, these measures date back many years; after the Iran-Iraq war, we took steps to reduce our dependence on the Strait of Hormuz and on exporting oil from the islands. To achieve this, we built oil pipelines in different regions so that we can export oil easily by land and sea without relying on the Strait of Hormuz. Even if they strike, as they have already done by attacking Abu Musa, they will gain nothing from it. On the contrary, it will intensify the oil crisis. Once the region enters into war, we have already declared that we would target all ports, as well as American banks and companies. In a way, this has given us a freer hand to take broader action, and that process has already begun," said Moghaddam.

"For this reason, they think that by striking Kharg or some of the islands, they can put pressure on us. On the contrary, all the pressure will fall on the U.S. and European-linked oil companies. That's why we face no problem in this regard. Even if they were to seize Kharg, we would respond as it is our territory, but in reality, it would not create any obstacle for our oil exports," he added.

Kharg Island lies about 25 km off Iran's northwestern Gulf coast. Roughly 6 km long and 3 km wide, it handles about 90 percent of Iran's crude exports.

The island contains storage tanks, pipelines, and deep-water jetties that allow supertankers to load crude. Many facilities are concentrated and exposed, making them vulnerable to attack.

On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump said that the U.S. forces had carried out heavy strikes on Kharg Island while deliberately sparing its oil facilities.

Trump warned that any interference with shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, by Iran or any other party, would prompt him to "immediately reconsider" that decision, leaving open the possibility of future strikes on the island's energy infrastructure.

Striking Kharg Island only affects US, European-linked oil companies: former IRGC commander

Striking Kharg Island only affects US, European-linked oil companies: former IRGC commander

Striking Kharg Island only affects US, European-linked oil companies: former IRGC commander

Striking Kharg Island only affects US, European-linked oil companies: former IRGC commander

The fragile and frequently violated ceasefire in Lebanon is coming under mounting strain amid rising political and military pressures across the Middle East, according to Daniel Levy, a former senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

In an interview aired on Wednesday by China Global Television Network (CGTN), Levy said tensions remain high, with clashes continuing, despite an extension of a ceasefire, with developments on other fronts in the region likely to determine whether hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah forces in Lebanon fully resume.

"Partly, that depends on whether the U.S. allows Israel sufficient destructive freedom of operation, that if Iran conditions one deal on another, it brings the whole thing crumbling down. So, in order to uphold this ceasefire, America has imposed certain limitations on Israel's actions in Lebanon. However, first of all, the reverse probably applies. If there is a collapse and a further escalation on the Iran front, one can almost guarantee that Israel will re-escalate in Lebanon," said Levy, who is now president of the U.S./Middle East Project, which focuses on solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

A major conflict between Israel has and Hezbollah ignited in early March, with Israel sending troops into south Lebanon to battle the Iran-backed militant group which had launched rocket attacks at Israel following joint Israeli-U.S. strikes on Iran.

A 10-day ceasefire took effect on April 17 and was extended by three weeks on April 23, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced the extension shortly after the two sides held their second round of ambassador-level talks in the U.S.

"There are now Israel-Lebanon negotiations taking place, hosted, sponsored, by the U.S. One of the things to look out for is the framework of that negotiation, is the content of that negotiation, designed to achieve a mutually dignified, pragmatic, sustainable deal, or are the Americans and the Israelis trying to push things into that deal equation which reality cannot sustain? So you have a Lebanese government which wants to move forward, but is being pushed into a civil war," he said.

Despite the ceasefire, the violence continues with both sides blaming each other for violations of the truce.

Lebanon's health ministry said Israeli strikes on Tuesday killed eight people, including three rescue workers, in the country's south.

Fragile Israel-Lebanon ceasefire under mounting pressure amid regional tensions: expert