Iran's true intentions behind proprietorship of four Persian Gulf islands

It's no secret that Iran sometimes makes certain moves to show the neighboring countries that it's presence in the region is growing.

Yesterday, Iran's Oil Ministry issued a request to the government, asking for the proprietorship of several islands, located in the Persian Gulf, aiming to launch gas hubs in the region.

These islands are Greater and Lesser Faror islands, Hendorabi and Farsi islands. Iran's oil ministry says the islands are non-residential, lack any real infrastructure.

Establishing gas hubs in Persian Gulf, close to the Hormuz Strait is both strategically and economically important for Iran.

On one side, Iran would be able to explore new gas fields, which exist on the Islands. Establishing hubs there would allow Iran to produce gas and export it right from the hub, through the Hormuz Strait.

According to a report from Mehr news agency, Faror Islands are estimated to hold 30.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and are projected to yield about 15 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.

The Farsi Island holds around 5.8 billion cubic meters of natural gas and 212 million barrels of condensates. The Farzad A and the Farzad B fields are located on the Farsi Island.

As for Hendorabi Island, the seismic studies there have shown that the Island holds about 66 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Thus, according to the report, Iran could be adding some 28 million cm of gas from Farsi Island, plus about 849,000 cm of gas from Faror Islands per day.

Although, one of the islands, the Farsi Island reportedly has an IRGC Navy base there, and the island is completely restricted to public.

At this point, both options are important for Iran, although it is difficult to say if they turn out to be short term or long term goals.