A suspected oil spill covering dozens of square kilometers of sea near Iran’s main oil hub, Kharg Island, has been seen in satellite imagery this week, with Maariv on Friday citing an Iranian official as denying the report.
According to Maariv, the Iranian official said the claim was “false” and part of the enemy’s “psychological warfare,” claiming the spill seen in the area originated from oil tanker waste that was discharged into the sea by a European tanker, damaging the environment.
The likely spill, appearing in images as a grey-and-white slick, covered waters to the west of the 8-kilometer-long island, as shown in images from Copernicus’s Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2, and Sentinel-3 satellites on May 6-8.
“The slick appears visually consistent with oil,” said Leon Moreland, researcher at the Conflict and Environment Observatory, who estimated that it was covering an area of approximately 45 square km.
Louis Goddard, co-founder of consultancy Data Desk, which focuses on climate and commodities, agreed that the images likely showed an oil slick, which he said was potentially the largest to occur since the start of the US-Israel war on Iran 70 days ago.
The US military and Iran’s mission to the United Nations in Geneva did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the images.
The cause of the possible spill and the point of origin are currently unknown, Moreland added, noting that images from May 8 showed no evidence of additional active spills.
Kharg Island a hub for 90% of Iranian oil exports
Kharg Island, where US forces said they had destroyed military targets earlier in the war, is the hub for 90% of Iran’s oil exports, much of which is bound for China.
The US Navy has been blockading Iran’s ports in an attempt to stop Tehran’s tankers from entering and exiting, while US and Iranian forces have clashed in the Gulf.
The war has also trapped hundreds of ships in the Gulf and caused the world’s biggest disruption to crude oil supply, as well as hitting global supplies of oil products and liquefied natural gas.
Maariv contributed to this report.
