The US is leaving an Iranian island untouched
FT News Briefing
Forhecz Topher
4.4 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 10 March 2026
⏱️ 11 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The price of oil fell sharply, and we’ll take a look at why the US and Israel are avoiding an attack on Iran’s Kharg Island. Plus, the FT’s George Hammond explains what the tenuous relationship between the Pentagon and Anthropic might mean for the AI start-up.
Mentioned in this podcast:
G7 ‘stands ready’ to release emergency oil reserves
Anthropic sues the Pentagon over being declared a ‘supply chain risk’
Gilt market slump deepens as traders bet on Bank of England rate rise
Kharg Island: Iran’s oil lifeline that Donald Trump has left untouched
Webinar: War in the Middle East: What’s the End game?
Note: The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts
Today’s FT News Briefing was hosted and edited by Marc Filippino, and produced by Saffeya Ahmed and Sonja Hutson. Our show was mixed by Kelly Garry. Additional help from Michela Tindera, Michael Lello and David da Silva. Our executive producer is Topher Forhecz. Cheryl Brumley is the FT’s Global Head of Audio. The show’s theme music is by Metaphor Music.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Good morning from the Financial Times. Today is Tuesday, March 10th, and this is your FT News briefing. |
| 0:08.4 | There was some relief in the oil market yesterday, and a small island off the coast of Iran seems to be untouchable. |
| 0:15.7 | Nobody has touched Kag Island in retaliation. If you blow it up, then you have a real problem going forward. |
| 0:23.2 | Plus, Anthropic is going head to head with the Pentagon. I'm Mark Filipino, and here's the |
| 0:28.2 | news you need to start your day. The red-hot energy market cooled yesterday on two major updates. |
| 0:43.1 | U.S. President Donald Trump said yesterday afternoon the war in Iran was, quote, |
| 0:47.5 | very complete, pretty much, end quote. |
| 0:50.3 | And earlier in the day, G7 finance ministers said the group stands ready to release petroleum |
| 0:55.1 | from emergency reserves, the idea is that more supply would lower energy prices. |
| 1:00.6 | Brent crude fell below $90 a barrel that was down from a whopping $119 earlier in the day. |
| 1:07.4 | Meanwhile, countries are trying to save energy as much as they can. |
| 1:10.8 | Bangladesh closed universities. |
| 1:12.5 | The UK Automobile Association is telling people to stay off the roads if they can help it, |
| 1:16.6 | and Germany's government said it's not ruling out any measures to contain rising energy prices. |
| 1:21.7 | The G7 is expected to make a final decision on releasing emergency reserves today. |
| 1:36.9 | What of Iran's most sensitive targets is a tiny coral island in the northern Gulf? |
| 1:40.3 | Somewhat ironically, it's also one of the easiest to hit. |
| 1:46.4 | It's called Karg Island, and it's crucial to Iran's oil industry. But so far, U.S. and Israeli bombs haven't touched it. Here to discuss why that is, is the FT's energy editor, Malcolm Moore. |
| 1:51.7 | Hey, Malcolm. Hi, Mark. So tell me a little bit more about Karg Island. How significant is it? |
| 1:56.7 | So it's tiny. It is about 25 kilometers off the Iranian coast. And the reason why it's important |
| 2:03.6 | is if you think about Iran, it has a very shallow coastline. There's basically almost nowhere |
| 2:09.9 | in the country where you can bring in one of these super tankers that you need to load oil, |
... |
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