Iran War Live Updates: U.S. Says It Bombed Key Iranian Island With Oil Hub

 

Live

Updated

March 14, 2026, 2:31 a.m. ET18 minutes ago

Iran War Live Updates: U.S. Says It Bombed Key Iranian Island With Oil Hub

 

President Trump said he directed the Pentagon to “totally obliterate” military assets on Kharg Island. The U.S. said it was deploying thousands of Marines to the region.

 

Farnaz Fassihi

Francesca Regalado

Updated

March 14, 2026, 2:18 a.m. ET28 minutes ago

Farnaz Fassihi and Francesca Regalado

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/03/14/world/iran-war-trump-oil-israel

 

Here is the latest.

President Trump said the U.S. military conducted a large bombing raid on Iran’s key oil export hub on Friday night, after oil prices surged following Iran’s effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a passage for one-fifth of the world’s oil supply.

 

Mr. Trump said he had directed the Pentagon to “totally obliterate” military forces at the hub, Kharg Island, but instructed the U.S. military not to damage its oil infrastructure “for reasons of decency.”

 

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps threatened to retaliate against regional oil and energy infrastructure tied to U.S. companies if Mr. Trump ordered an attack on Iran’s oil and energy facilities.

 

Oil prices have risen by more than 40 percent since the United States and Israel began the war with Iran nearly two weeks ago. The world’s benchmark for oil finishing the day above $103 a barrel on Friday, the highest end-of-day level since 2022.

 

A senior official from Iran’s Oil Ministry said the attacks on the island were enormous and destructive. Employees of the oil refineries reported nearly two hours of nonstop explosions and airstrikes that shook the island like an earthquake.

 

The official, who asked not to be named because he was discussing sensitive issues, said that an attack on Kharg Island’s oil and gas infrastructure would immediately halt a major part of Iran’s oil exports, with severe economic and infrastructure consequences.

 

About 90 percent of Iran’s oil exports pass through the hub, situated deep in the northern Persian Gulf.

 

Traffic through the strait remained all but halted because of Iranian threats, and there was no sign yet that the United States and its allies were about to use warships to escort tankers safely through, an idea they have publicly discussed since last week.

 

The United States is sending 2,500 Marines aboard as many as three warships to the Middle East, officials said, to join about 50,000 troops already amassed in the region. It was unclear how the new deployment would be used.

 

In Lebanon, the Israeli military and the Iran-backed militia Hezbollah traded strikes on Friday. A day after deadly Israeli airstrikes on central Beirut, Israeli planes dropped leaflets in the Lebanese capital on Friday, urging people to disarm Hezbollah. Some of the leaflets referred to the Israeli invasion of Gaza as “a remarkable success,” unnerving residents who feared Israel may be preparing a large-scale ground invasion.

 

Lebanon’s health ministry said early on Saturday that Israeli strikes in the south of the country killed 14 medical workers and injured six more. It said the workers, like most emergency workers in southern Lebanon, were affiliated with Hezbollah’s social services arm or the Shia Amal Movement.

 

Here’s what else we are covering:

 

U.S. jet crash: All six crew members died in the crash of a U.S. aerial refueling tanker, the military said, raising the number of American service members killed in the war to at least 13. U.S. Central Command said the crash of the KC-135 jet in Iraq was under investigation, but that it was not caused by either hostile or friendly fire. Read more ›

 

Death toll: More than 1,348 civilians in Iran have been killed since the start of the war, Iran’s representative to the United Nations told the Security Council on Wednesday, the latest figure the country has provided. In Lebanon, officials said that nearly 800 people had been killed and over 2,000 others injured.

 

Quds Day rally: Thousands of people were out in Tehran on Friday for a rally marking Quds Day, held annually by the Iranian government against Israel. People chanted “Death to Israel” and “Death to America,” and burned the Israeli flag. The rally was seen in part as an effort by loyalists of Iran’s clerical leadership to demonstrate their continued support.