KHARG ISLAND — U.S. strikes on Kharg Island hit military targets and left key oil facilities intact. As the U.S. weighs next steps, options under discussion include operations at Kharg Island, a ground invasion of Iran, and operations focused on Iran’s nuclear material.

Recent U.S. strikes degraded parts of Iran’s military infrastructure without collapsing the regime. Kharg Island is a small island in the Persian Gulf that serves as Iran’s main oil export terminal and handles about 90% of Iran’s oil exports.

Iran has recently been exporting roughly 1.1 million to 1.5 million barrels of oil per day, mostly to China. Disrupting Kharg Island could shock global oil markets.

Abdullah Aljunaid, a Bahraini analyst, said he believed additional steps were needed after the recent strikes. “The Iranian military capacity and offensive abilities have been totally degraded, so we need to probably do something else,” Aljunaid said.

Aljunaid said he saw value in focusing on specific locations in Iran. “We need to take certain strategic assets — geography — like Bushehr and Kharg, out of the equation,” he said.

Bushehr is a coastal city in southern Iran on the Persian Gulf that hosts the country’s only operational nuclear power plant and a key port. “Those two, especially Kharg, represent the jewel of the crown, and without that, Iran’s economic ability to finance itself is going to be dead,” Aljunaid said. “If the U.S. decided to take Bushehr at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz, then I believe we can really see a different equation, forcing the Iranians to come to the negotiating table on our terms — the U.S. terms, and probably the rest of the world,” Aljunaid said.

Retired general Jack Keane said the U.S. has chosen not to seize Kharg Island at this time. “Such a move would effectively put the Iranian regime in 'checkmate',” Keane said. “Now we would own all of their major assets,” he said.

Keane described what he said would be the effect of controlling Iran’s oil export infrastructure. “It's 50% of their budget, 60% of the revenue, 80, 90% of the distribution points for their oil,” he said. Separately, a ground invasion of Iran could draw the U.S. into a prolonged regional war, and operations targeting Iran’s nuclear material could trigger escalation while still failing to eliminate the threat.