Iran Rushes to Reinforce Kharg Island Oil Terminal as Trump Posts AI-Generated Strike Images

Iran is racing to fortify the one piece of infrastructure that keeps its economy breathing: Kharg Island, the export terminal that moves roughly 90% of all Iranian crude, according to bne IntelliNews, which cited Iran's Shana News Agency.

Abbas Assadrouz, head of the Iranian Oil Terminals Co., said the work is meant to "ensure the sustainable continuity of the country's oil exports." The upgrades reportedly focus on fire detection systems and storage tank safety.

President Trump posted a series of AI-generated images to Truth Social on Sunday, one reading simply "STRIKE ON KHARG," showing an oil facility under aerial attack, according to Newsweek. Another read "No More Engines," depicting a burning Iranian-flagged tanker. A third, "It's Our Oil Tanker Now!", showed Trump and U.S. service members planting an American flag on an Iranian vessel.

None of the posts came with policy detail. Newsweek noted Trump has been talking about Kharg Island since 1988, when he told The Guardian while promoting The Art of the Deal that if Iran fired on American assets, "I'd do a number on Kharg Island. I'd go in and take it." That represents 38 years of consistent focus on the same target.

The military and diplomatic backdrop

The posts landed as the U.S. and Iran remain in some form of contact following recent fighting, with Trump saying Friday that Washington is prepared to resume strikes if negotiations fail, per Newsweek's reporting. Iran denies it's seeking to resume talks with the United States at all, according to primexbt's reporting citing Reuters sourcing.

Oil prices tumbled about 8% on Monday after the U.S. bombing campaign ended over the weekend, and Brent crude kept sliding Tuesday, down more than 2.5% to around $86 a barrel by mid-morning, according to primexbt. OilPrice.com's own pricing data showed Brent down 1.87% to $86.71 and WTI down 1.65% to $81.25 in the same window, alongside an 8.54% one-day drop in the OPEC Basket price.

Kharg itself has remained active. Maritime intelligence firm Windward counted as many as 21 "dark" tankers, ships running without transponders to avoid detection, clustered around the island as of the Saturday before the pause, primexbt reported. That number rose to 24 by Sunday, including three new arrivals: one roughly 320 meters long and two others around 226 and 211 meters, based on satellite radar imagery Windward analyzed. A U.S. naval blockade east of the Strait of Hormuz, reinstated two weeks into the current round of hostilities, remains in place.

The Hormuz fee proposal

Oman has secured backing from Gulf states for a plan that would let Iran collect voluntary fees from ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, a Gulf source told Reuters, as reported by primexbt. Crucially, the source said Oman pitched this to Tehran as a joint regional mechanism, meaning Iran would not have sole control over the waterway. The model draws on the Strait of Malacca, where Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore collect voluntary contributions from shipping to fund navigation safety, environmental protection, and search-and-rescue operations.

No formal agreement has been announced, and Iran's public position remains that it isn't negotiating with Washington.

What's actually contested here

The strongest case for taking Trump's Kharg Island posts seriously as strategy rather than bluster is that he's been consistent on this target for decades and has already shown a willingness to order strikes on Iran this year.

The strongest case for skepticism is what Newsweek flagged: these are AI-generated images with zero accompanying policy language, posted the same week both sides are reportedly easing off military action and Gulf states are pushing a diplomatic fee-sharing scheme. Military officials, lawmakers, and national security experts have debated for months, per Newsweek, whether hitting or seizing Kharg would actually strengthen Washington's hand or just detonate a wider regional war. That debate remains unresolved.

None of the three source reports state that a strike on Kharg has occurred or is imminent. Iran is preparing for the possibility while simultaneously keeping its dark-fleet tanker traffic moving. The White House had not responded to Newsweek's request for comment as of Sunday. Whether the Omani fee proposal survives contact with actual Iranian sign-off, and whether Trump's imagery is signaling or just noise, are the two open questions the next few weeks should answer.