“Archeological sites include 2,400-year-old wall carvings and rock-cut tombs, and there is an 18th-century fort built by the Dutch East India Company.”

“In the 1950s, the island was developed into the sprawling oil facility that exists today. It's home to at least 8,000 residents, many of them oil workers.”

“Access is restricted, earning it the nickname 'Forbidden Island,' but satellite and aerial images show rows of oil storage tanks, flames gushing from flare stacks, a web of pipelines and vast piers that allow supertankers to transport oil around the world — mostly to China.”

“Kharg Island is a lifeline for Iran’s economy,”

“Trump himself has downplayed Iran's potential defenses. “I call it ‘the little oil island’ that sits there, so totally unprotected,” he said last week.”

“He has had designs on it since at least 1988, when he told The Guardian newspaper that “I’d do a number on Kharg Island; I’d go in and take it” if Iran fired at American troops or ships.”

“Regardless of Trump's intent, what's clear is that extra U.S. personnel are headed to the region. This includes 1,000 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division and 5,000 Marines.”

“Kharg Island is less than 20 miles from the mainland, well within rocket, artillery and drone range, according to Emery at University College London. It is also hundreds of miles inside the Persian Gulf, meaning any U.S. force would take at least a day to reach it and 'providing time for Iran to mine surrounding waters and prepare defenses,' he said.”

“Even if the U.S. did capture the island, 'holding the position would be extremely challenging, with resupply operations exposed to persistent drone, missile and artillery fire,' he said. Ultimately, he believes, it 'would be an absolutely disastrous decision that would ensure the conflict lasted many months.'”