Iran's oil minister visits strategic oil port in Kharg island as Israeli threat increases

Iran's Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad on Sunday arrived in Kharg Island, to tour the country's biggest oil terminal, amid rising fears of attacks by Israel on Iran's oil infrastructure.

It comes in the wake of a statement by an Israeli military spokesman over the weekend, indicating that Israel would respond "when the time is right" after Tehran launched a missile attack last week. Israeli officials have also said that Iran's oil infrastructure may be on the list of targets in the retaliatory action.

Paknejad's visit was even followed by meetings with operational staff at the Kharg Island facility that holds up to 23 million barrels of crude oil in storage, Shana, the news website of the oil ministry reported.
The context of these developments is provided by US President Joe Biden's comments on Friday where he expressed uncertainty over the response strategy by Israel.
China, which doesn't respect US sanctions, is still Iran's biggest oil customer, importing between 1.2 to 1.4 million barrels a day from Tehran during the first half of 2024, analysts say.