Tehran:
Iran has denied reports of an oil leak near Kharg Island after satellite imagery this week appeared to show a large slick near Kharg Island, the country’s main oil export hub in the Gulf. The reports of suspected slicks come as US officials warned that oil spills in the region could trigger an environmental catastrophe amid the ongoing blockade of the Strait of Hormuz by Iranian and US forces.
Iran’s Oil Terminals Company, in a statement, said inspections had found no evidence of leaks from storage tanks, pipelines, loading facilities or tankers operating near the island.
The company’s chief executive said that the Marine Emergency Mutual Aid Centre (MEMAC), a regional marine pollution body, had also reported no sign of leakage in the area. The official added Iranian teams had conducted additional field inspections and laboratory testing after the reports emerged and had not identified “even the smallest trace” of leakage.
Kharg Island is at the heart of Iran’s oil export industry, a lynchpin of the country’s battered economy, and lies in the Gulf, north of the narrow, strategic Strait of Hormuz.
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The Slick
This satellite image obtained from Copernicus Sentinel Data 2026 on May 9, 2026, appears to show an oil slick spreading off the coast of Kharg Island, a key oil export terminal for Iran. (AFP)
The spread of the suspected slick off the coast of Kharg Island, a key oil export terminal for the Islamic Republic, was first reported by The New York Times on Friday, citing satellite images. The images appeared to show a larger spill, visible in satellite images as a gray-and-white slick, located off the island’s west coast.
It appeared to cover more than 20 square miles (52 square kilometers) as of Thursday, according to an estimate by Orbital EOS, which monitors oil spills, and appeared to be spreading southward toward Saudi waters.
The report claimed that it was not immediately clear what had caused the apparent spill.
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US’ ‘Economic Fury’
The incident comes as the Trump administration ramps up “Economic Fury” on Tehran, tightening sanctions and increasing the US naval presence near Hormuz to curb Iran’s oil exports. Since Iran closed the strait following the outbreak of hostilities in late February, tankers have bottlenecked across the region as the vital oil chokepoint remains largely shut.
The United States has also since imposed a blockade of Iranian ports, stranding many tankers in the area.
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“We also know that there are many tankers in the area, so there is a chance of an accidental spill,” UN official Dr Kaveh Madani told Fox News Digital.
“As long as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz is there and the region is in a war mode, the environment would not be a priority, but monitoring the behaviour of tankers would not be trivial,” he said.