Approximately 2,200 U.S. Marines currently en route to the Middle East are considering a plan to secure maritime passage safety in the Strait of Hormuz by seizing islands scattered around the strait and in the Persian Gulf near southern Iran, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 18th.
The USS Tripoli, a U.S. Navy amphibious assault ship carrying the approximately 2,200-strong 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, departed Okinawa, Japan, on the 11th.
On the 17th, it was confirmed via the Automatic Identification System (AIS) that the vessel passed through the Malacca Strait near Singapore. At this navigation speed, it is estimated to arrive in the waters near the Strait of Hormuz between the 23rd and 27th.
The Tripoli, the U.S. Navy’s latest amphibious assault ship (LHA-7), carrying approximately 2,200 members of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, is a light aircraft carrier with a full-load displacement of 45,000 tons and a length of 257 meters. It is confirmed to pass through the Malacca Strait on the 17th.
Expeditionary Unit, is a light aircraft carrier with a full-load displacement of 45,000 tons and a length of 257 meters. It is confirmed to pass through the Malacca Strait on the 17th.
In this regard, The Wall Street Journal reported that current and former senior U.S. officials believe the U.S. could use this unit to occupy and establish bases on some islands within the Strait of Hormuz south of Iran, ensuring safe passage for oil tankers and cargo ships and using them as leverage in negotiations with Iran.
The U.S. Marine Expeditionary Unit is a self-sufficient rapid-response force integrating army, air force, and support capabilities to conduct independent operations based on naval vessels. It comprises:
▲a ground combat unit centered on marine infantry equipped with armored vehicles and artillery;
▲an air unit including F-35B fighter jets, MV-22 Osprey vertical/short takeoff and landing aircraft, and helicopters;
▲a command element coordinating unit movements; and
▲a logistics support battalion. It is specialized in surprise operations via sea and air.
Iran currently controls several islands along its southern coast, where it has built oil infrastructure, installed missile launchers, and concealed unmanned maritime drones and small vessels like speedboats in caves.
The island of greatest strategic importance in the Persian Gulf is Kharg Island, located approximately 450 kilometers from the Strait of Hormuz in the northern part of the gulf.
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About 90% of Iran’s crude oil exports pass through this island. On the 13th, the U.S. destroyed around 90 military targets on the island, including mine storage facilities and missile launchers. However, President Trump later stated that if Iran continues to blockade the strait, the U.S. would attack the oil infrastructure densely packed on this island, which spans only 25 square kilometers. If Kharg Island’s oil facilities are destroyed, Iran’s economy would nearly collapse, and global oil prices would surge again.
However, the Journal quoted military experts and former U.S. officials as saying, “Instead of destroying Kharg’s oil infrastructure, the Marines could seize the island so the U.S. could use it as leverage to reopen the strait.”
Frank McKenzie, former commander of U.S. Central Command, stated, “You’ve got really two choices. You can destroy the oil infrastructure, which would give irrevocable damage to the Iranian economy and the global economy, or you could seize it to use as a bargaining chip, which doesn’t then permanently degrade the world economy.”
The 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit’s island-seizing operations could be conducted via a naval operation, deploying landing craft from the USS Tripoli to directly insert marines and equipment ashore, or via an aerial assault using F-35B fighter jets and helicopters designed to land without runways.
These aircraft could launch from the vessel or nearby Gulf countries. Middle Eastern nations have already permitted the U.S. military to fire surface-to-surface missiles from U.S. bases within their territories.
The U.S. Marines could also occupy other islands in the Persian Gulf to block Iran’s speedboat activities and secure strategic positions to intercept and shoot down missiles targeting ships passing through the strait.
The Journal reported, “One strategic target could be Qeshm Island, which sits at the mouth of the strait.” This elongated island houses underground tunnels equipped with Iranian naval vessels and missiles. By controlling this island, which is 2.5 times the size of Seoul (1,491 square kilometers), Iran can practically control the flow of ships through the strait.
Additionally, the U.S. could occupy Kish Island, which has an airport west of Qeshm, or Hormuz Island, a rocky isle east of Qeshm where small attack boats are docked.
Furthermore, by deploying marines to coastal islands rather than mainland Iran, President Trump could claim he has kept his pledge “not to deploy ground forces on Iranian soil.”
John Miller, a former lieutenant general who commanded the Navy component of U.S. Central Command, told the Journal, “If you’re going to put them anywhere, the place where it would be on some of the islands that are around Iran, in the Gulf, that might give you some advantage from a tactical sense for a period of time.”
