page_title: Kharg Island
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Kharg Island / History
caption_attribution_description: Large tankers loading at Kharg Terminal, offshore Persian Golf
context_page_description: Khark Island is a continental island in the Persian Gulf belonging to Iran. The island is located 25 km off the coast of Iran and 483 km northwest of the Strait of Hormuz. Administered by the adjacent coastal Bushehr Province, Khark Island provides a sea port for the export of oil and extends Iranian territorial sea claims into the Persian Gulf oil fields. Located on Khark Island is Khark, the only city in the Khark District.
context_section_description: Mentioned in the Hudud al-'Alam as a good source for pearls around 982 AD, Khark was visited by Jean de Thévenot in 1665, who recorded trade at the time with Isfahan and Basra. In 1753 the Dutch Empire established both a trading post and a fort on the island after securing perpetual ownership of the island from Mir Nasáir, the Arab ruler of Bandar Rig, in return for a present of 2000 rupees. In 1766 the Dutch fort was captured by Mir Mahanna, the governor of Bandar Rig.
  The island was briefly occupied in 1838 by the British to block the Siege of Herat (1838) but was soon returned. Amoco built and operated the oil terminal on the island. Its property was expropriated after the revolution.
  Once the world's largest offshore crude oil terminal and the principal sea terminal for Iranian oil, the Khark Island facilities were put out of commission in the fall of 1986. Heavy bombing of the Khark Island facilities from 1980 through 1988 by the Iraqi Air Force during the Iran–Iraq War all but destroyed most of the terminal facilities. Khark Island was situated in the middle of the Darius Oilfield, also destroyed by the intensive bombing. Repair to all facilities has been very slow, even after the war ended in 1988.  The events experienced by this island gave rise to the dispute in the English contract law case The Kanchenjunga [1990] 1 Lloyd's Rep 391, regarding the conditions for repudiatory breach of contract and a claimant's right to elect to accept repudiation.
  In 2009, Iran exported and swapped 950 million barrels of crude oil via southern Khark oil terminal.
caption: As of 2012[update], the Khark oil terminal handles about 98% of Iran's crude exports.[1]
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