Suspected large-scale oil spill near Iran's Kharg Island.

Recently captured satellite images show that a large-scale crude oil spill is suspected to have occurred in the waters near Khark Island, a key oil export hub in Iran, with the pollution covering tens of square kilometers of sea surface. Images taken by the European Copernicus Sentinel satellite series on May 6th to 8th show a grayish-white oil slick appearing in the waters west of Khark Island. According to analysts cited by Reuters, this oil slick "visually matches the characteristics of crude oil" and is estimated to cover an area of about 45 square kilometers. The UK-based Windward Maritime Analytics company stated on social media on May 8th that the oil pollution near Khark Island is continuing to spread. The leak was first discovered on May 5th and confirmed after three satellite flyovers within 20 hours. Khark Island is an important oil export hub for Iran. In early April, the US military claimed to have conducted airstrikes targeting military facilities on the island.