US President Donald Trump has warned of possible further action against Kharg Island, a key oil terminal of Iran and a major cog in the country's economic machine.
But three other Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf could be just as strategic in efforts to pressure Tehran into reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a key artery for global oil and gas supplies.
The tiny islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb, and Lesser Tunb sit near the mouth of the 39-kilometer-wide waterway, giving them strategic value. The islands are controlled by Tehran but long claimed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
US media outlet Axios reported on March 26 that the Pentagon is preparing a range of military options for a potential "final blow" against Iran. They include seizing Abu Musa and the two other islands.
The capture of other Iranian islands, including Qeshm, Larak, and Kharg, are also on the table, according to Axios. The country has over 400 islands along its southern coast.
RFE/RL requested comment on the Axios report from the White House, which forwarded a March 21 statement by Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
In the statement, Leavitt said: "It's the job of the Pentagon to make preparations in order to give the Commander-in-Chief maximum optionality. It does not mean the President has made a decision, and as the President said in the Oval Office recently, he is not planning to send ground troops anywhere at this time."
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Why Iran And The U.A.E. Fight Over 3 Tiny Islands
Meanwhile, Iran's speaker of parliament Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf wrote on X on March 25 that Tehran's intelligence had indications that "Iran's enemies, with the support of a country in the region, are preparing an operation to occupy one of Iran's islands."
His comment was seen as a reference to Abu Musa and Iran's claims that the UAE could help the United States take it.
Internationally recognized as part of Iran, the islands are also claimed by the UAE. Tehran gained control of the territories just a day before the creation in 1971 of the UAE, which was until then was an informal British protectorate.
The largest of the islands, Abu Musa, is home to around 2,000 people. The two smaller islands are mostly uninhabited and home to naval and military facilities.
Pressure Tactic
Global oil and gas prices have soared since Iran effectively closed the narrow passage -- which accounts for about one-fifth of the world's oil and gas transit -- since the war began on February 28.
The United States could seize control of the islands to break Iran's chokehold on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz in hopes it will help push oil prices back down.
Seizing the three strategic islands could also give Washington a bargaining chip in any negotiation with Iran to end the war, experts say.
"The likelihood that they intend to occupy these islands is very high," Mohammad Farsi, a former Iranian military officer who was stationed on Kharg Island in the northern Persian Gulf before the Islamic Revolution in 1979, told RFE/RL's Radio Farda.
The deployment of two American expeditionary units, with thousands of Marines and supporting ships and aircraft, has added to speculation that Trump could at some point order the invasion of the islands.
Would It Actually Work?
Farsi said he was skeptical that seizing Abu Musa, Greater Tunb, and Lesser Tunb would achieve its stated goal of keeping the strait open for oil tankers.
"The threat from Iran doesn't require ships or vessels," he said. "Iran can strike from a distance with drones and missiles."
As long as Iran's missile and drone infrastructure on the mainland remains intact, Farsi said, no island garrison or naval escort force can reliably guarantee safe passage through the strait.
SEE ALSO: Iran's Navy Is Largely Gone. The Threat To The Strait Of Hormuz Is Not.H.A. Hellyer, a senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies, says Iran's leadership views the Strait of Hormuz as a leverage point: "a pressure mechanism affecting global energy markets and international opinion."
Thus, control over the three islands for the United States would be "geographic and strategic."
"These islands sit near the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical maritime chokepoints. Control over them has implications for shipping lanes, energy flows, and potential military positioning in any scenario involving reopening or securing the strait," he said, adding he wasn't advocating for the United States to make such a move.
"In the end, these islands are not peripheral. They sit at the intersection of territorial dispute, maritime security, energy markets, and evolving Gulf alliances. Any move involving them would reshape the strategic landscape around Hormuz."