Explosions Were Heard Near Iran's Most Important Oil Terminal Early This Morning. Nobody Official Will Say What Happened.

In the early hours of Saturday, September 5, people on Kharg Island — the small coral outcrop that handles the vast majority of Iran's oil exports — reported hearing explosions out over the Gulf. What caused them is, as of this writing, still officially unknown.

Iran's semi-official Fars news agency said its correspondent on Kharg Island heard several explosions from the direction of the Gulf, but reported no visible smoke afterward — an important detail, since a real strike on a fuel-carrying vessel or terminal infrastructure would typically produce a highly visible fire.

Two other Iranian outlets went further. The state-affiliated Nournews cited unconfirmed local sources saying a US missile had targeted an Iranian tanker near Kharg. Tasnim, another semi-official agency, quoted local sources describing four US missiles striking a tanker at anchor, adding that there were no casualties and the crew was being evacuated. These are competing, uncorroborated accounts from Iranian state-linked media — not an official Iranian government statement, and not confirmed by any US source.

As of publication, there has been no official statement from Iranian authorities and no response from U.S. Central Command. That silence, on both sides, is itself notable: neither government has moved to confirm, deny, or clarify what the explosions actually were.

Kharg Island's oil terminal is not just another target — it's the single point through which the large majority of Iran's crude exports pass. Analysts have long flagged it as an unusually consequential target precisely because a real, sustained strike there could choke off Iran's oil revenue and send shockwaves through global energy markets. That's exactly why any report involving Kharg gets taken seriously even before it's confirmed, and exactly why both sides may have reasons to stay quiet until they know more.

This follows a US strike on September 1 that killed civilians at a wedding celebration in Sirik, and a separate wave of strikes around September 2 that Iranian officials said killed members of the IRGC Aerospace Force in Kermanshah — part of a war that resumed after a 60-day US-Iran negotiating window over the Strait of Hormuz expired without a deal. IF Daily could not confirm a video specifically documenting this morning's Kharg Island reports at publication time; this account is drawn from Fars, Nournews, and Tasnim reporting as relayed by wire services, cited below, and will be updated as official confirmation emerges.