The Iranian leadership has drawn a clear red line. If the islands off Iran\u2019s southern coast are attacked, parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf warned, Tehran will \u201cabandon any restraint.\u201d In his message he also made clear whom he would hold responsible: U.S. President Donald Trump. Should attacks occur, Qalibaf wrote, Trump will \u201cbe responsible for the blood of American soldiers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The words are spoken in a war that has continued to expand since February 28. What on the map looks like small dots actually determines money, energy and military control in the Persian Gulf. The islands off Iran\u2019s coast are not a marginal detail of the conflict. They are a sensitive nerve of the entire region. The island of Kharg is particularly in focus. Located only about 33 kilometers off the Iranian coast, it is the most important transshipment point for Iranian oil. Nearly all export volumes of the country pass through this small coral island. Since the beginning of the war, about 13.7 million barrels of oil have been shipped from there according to analyses by TankerTrackers.com. Satellite images still showed tankers loading at the island\u2019s terminals on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n