CENTCOM launched a major new wave of strikes on Iran, hitting dozens of targets, including air defenses, radar sites, missile capabilities, small boats, and one-way attack aerial and sea drones for the first time.

BREAKING

U.S. military:

"TAMPA, Fla. — U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) completed a new wave of offensive strikes against Iran, July 12, hitting dozens of targets at multiple locations with precision munitions to degrade Iran’s ability to continue attacking international… pic.twitter.com/qOkU5zW6Fo

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) July 13, 2026

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Satellite imagery shows that Iran has deployed military equipment to the island, likely anti-ship missiles, aerial and naval unmanned systems, and sea mines since March 2026.

By Shay Khatiri, Middle East Forum

President Donald Trump issued an ultimatum to Iran to surrender control of the Strait of Hormuz by July 11, 2026.

With Iran refusing to aide, the United States ought to consider its military options.

While Trump has talked about taking over Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf, targeting Qeshm might be the better option.

Kharg is Iran’s main oil exporting port, through which roughly 90 percent of Iranian oil transits. Its economic value to Iran is undeniable.

Destroying Iran’s oil export capacity will do long-term damage to the Islamic Republic, while seizing the island will be an excellent bargaining chip for negotiations; however, as far as military value goes, Kharg’s is near-zero.

It sits in the western part of the gulf, near Kuwait and Iraq, about 300 miles away from the Strait. Iran cannot attack ships from there, and the United States cannot protect them.

Qeshm is the largest Island in the Persian Gulf and falls on the northern edge of the Strait of Hormuz, close to Iran. Qeshm falls within Iran’s Imam Bagher Fifth Maritime Region.

The Second Khatam al-Anbiya Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps–Navy has jurisdiction over this region, and it has heavily militarized Qeshm, including an unmanned aerial vehicle base and surveillance radar sites to detect commercial vessels.

In 2012, Mohammad Ali Jafari, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander, said Iran also stationed marines on the five islands in the region, including Qeshm, which Iran has used to seize ships.

Other measures include fast boats, which Iran uses for harassing commercial and military vessels and mining, and air defense.

Satellite imagery shows that Iran has deployed military equipment to the island, likely anti-ship missiles, aerial and naval unmanned systems, and sea mines since March 2026.

It is also key to Iran’s desire to operate maritime navigation through the waterway.

During the July 9–10, 2026, strikes against Iran, the U.S. military bombarded Qeshm. According to U.S. Central Command, the targets included radar sites, which are crucial to Iran’s attacks on shipping.

Gen. Douglas MacArthur once observed that Taiwan “in the hands of the Communists [could] be an unsinkable aircraft carrier and submarine tender ideally located to accomplish Soviet offensive strategy and at the same time checkmate counteroffensive operations by United States Forces based on Okinawa and the Philippines.”

Qeshm is analogous to Iran, a place from which Iran can project power against commercial and naval shipping.

But the reverse is also true. In the hands of the United States, Qeshm would flip the script. Iran no longer would be able to easily target the Strait.

It would have to deploy its mining boats and drones from further away, with much greater risk of interception by the U.S. military.

Control of Qeshm would give the United States greater power to protect shipping. First, intercepting Iran’s aerial attacks from land increases the ability of the U.S. Navy to operate freely.

Second, aerial attacks launched from Iran would have to pass either over the island or near it, making interception easier.

Third, the presence of land-based radars would allow the U.S. military to detect and neutralize fast boats.

Last, seizure of Qeshm Island would allow for the United States to control shipping through the strait on a permanent basis.

If the president is interested in having leverage over Iranian oil exports, Qeshm can provide that bargaining chip.

The key challenge to controlling Qeshm would be protecting the United States from the Islamic Republic’s drone and missile bombardments on the island.

But, with between 80 and 90 percent of Iran’s military-industrial base destroyed during the conflict, Iran will have to husband its resources at a much greater level.

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