Satellite Images Reveal Massive Oil Spill Near Iran's Kharg Island Amid Strait of Hormuz Clashes

A sprawling gray and white slick, estimated at roughly 45 square kilometers, has been detected in the waters west of Iran's Kharg Island, the country's primary crude export terminal. The suspected oil spill was captured in images from the European Copernicus program's Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2, and Sentinel-3 satellites between May 6 and May 8.

Leon Morland, a researcher at the Conflict and Environment Observatory, told Reuters the patch "appears to be visually consistent with oil." Louis Goddard, co-founder of the climate and commodities consultancy Data Desk, agreed the imagery likely depicts an oil slick, which he described as potentially the largest since the onset of the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran 70 days ago.

No Official Comment on Spill Cause

Neither the US military nor Iran's mission to the United Nations in Geneva has issued any official statement regarding the satellite images or the possible source of the leak. Kharg Island holds immense strategic value, handling an estimated 90 percent of Iran's oil exports, the majority of which are destined for China. US forces have previously announced strikes on military sites on the island during earlier phases of the conflict.

The discovery of the spill comes as the US Navy continues to enforce a stringent blockade on Iranian ports, preventing Tehran's oil tankers from entering or leaving. This naval pressure coincides with escalating clashes in the Gulf waters and the Strait of Hormuz.

US Central Command Details Tanker Interceptions

On Friday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) stated its forces had disabled two additional Iranian oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman as they attempted to enter an Iranian port, part of the ongoing maritime blockade. CENTCOM identified the vessels as the MT Sea Star 3 and the MT Seifada, noting they were empty and attempting to breach the blockade.

According to CENTCOM, an F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet launched from the USS George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier struck the tankers' smokestacks with precision munitions to prevent them from reaching port. The command also reported that on May 6, US forces disabled the Iranian tanker MT Hasna while it tried to sail toward an Iranian port in the Gulf of Oman. In that incident, a fighter jet of the same type, launched from the USS Abraham Lincoln, hit the tanker's rudder with several rounds from a 20mm cannon.

CENTCOM confirmed that none of the three vessels are still en route to Iran. The command added that US forces have redirected more than 50 commercial ships in recent weeks to ensure compliance with the naval blockade on Tehran.

Admiral Brad Cooper, head of CENTCOM, was quoted as saying that US forces in the Middle East are "committed to the full enforcement of the blockade on ships entering or leaving Iran." This comes amid growing concerns over a widening confrontation and threats to global energy supplies and navigation in the Gulf.