US May Deploy Airborne Troops to Capture Iranian Oil Hub, NYT Reports

(SeaPRwire) –   The paper has reported that a brigade of around 3,000 paratroopers might join the Middle East conflict

The New York Times, citing U.S. defense sources, has reported that senior U.S. military officials are exploring the potential deployment of airborne troops to seize Kharg Island, which accounts for 90% of Iran’s crude oil exports.

In mid-March, the U.S. targeted military sites on the island, located roughly 25 kilometers (15 miles) off Iran’s Persian Gulf coast, but avoided damaging energy infrastructure. Since then, reports have suggested that Washington might initiate a ground operation to take control of the critical oil hub three weeks into the U.S.-Israeli war with the Islamic Republic, aiming to weaken Tehran’s economy.

Iran has warned it would set Gulf nations’ oil and gas facilities “ablaze” if action is taken against Kharg Island. On Monday, it further threatened to retaliate by mining the Strait of Hormuz and all other regional waterways.

The Pentagon is considering a plan to deploy approximately 3,000 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne’s “Immediate Response Force,” which is said to be able to deploy anywhere globally within 18 hours, to execute the island attack, the NYT stated in a Monday article.

It added that another discussed option involves utilizing 2,500 troops from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, which is en route to the Middle East, for the operation.

Current and former officials told the paper there is also a scenario where paratroopers could reinforce the marines. They explained that while airborne troops can arrive quickly, they lack the heavy equipment—possessed by the marines—required to counter potential Iranian attempts to retake Kharg Island.

The NYT’s sources noted that the planned attack on the oil hub is merely cautious preparation, emphasizing that the Pentagon or U.S. Central Command has not yet issued orders to execute it.

Joe Kent, the former director of the National Counterterrorism Center who resigned last week in protest of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, told the Washington Post on Monday that the U.S. operation on Kharg Island “would be a disaster” and amount to “simply handing Iran a group of hostages on an island they could pummel with drones and missiles.”