Tehran says US attacked it
Iran on Saturday issued a warning to evacuate three major UAE ports, including West Asia’s busiest, marking the first time it has openly threatened a neighboring country’s non-US assets as its war with the US and Israel entered its third week.
Iran said, without providing evidence, that the US had used “ports, docks and bases” in the UAE to launch attacks on Iran’s Kharg Island. It urged people to evacuate areas where it said US forces were taking shelter.
Hours after the threat, there was no sign of an attack at Dubai’s Jebel Ali port – the Middle East’s busiest – or Khalifa Port in Abu Dhabi. But Associated Press photos showed a fire at a third port in Fujairah that was caused by debris from an Iranian drone intercepted at an oil facility.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told MS Now that the US attacked Kharg Island and Abu Musa Island with short-range artillery from two locations in the UAE, Ras al-Khaimah and a place “very close to Dubai”, calling it dangerous and adding that Iran would “try to be careful not to attack any populated areas”.
Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones at its Arab Gulf neighbors during the war, but said it was targeting US assets, even as attacks or attempted attacks on civilian assets such as airports and oil fields were reported.
On Friday, US President Donald Trump said the US had “destroyed” military sites on Kharg Island, where the main terminal handling Iran’s oil exports was located.
He said oil infrastructure could be next if Tehran continues to interfere with the passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, where ships are backed up and a fifth of the global oil supply typically transits.
Iran’s parliamentary speaker has said an attack against the country’s oil infrastructure would provoke a new level of retaliation.
Amid growing global concerns over oil prices and supplies, Trump said Saturday he expected China, France, Japan, South Korea, Britain and others to send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz “open and secure.”
In response Britain said it was discussing a “range of options” with allies to secure shipping.
On Saturday, Iran’s Joint Military Command reiterated its threat to attack “oil, economic and energy infrastructure” linked to the US in the region if the Islamic Republic’s oil infrastructure is attacked.
Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency said the attack on Kharg Island caused no damage to oil infrastructure. It said they targeted an air defense facility, a naval base, an airport control tower and the helicopter hangar of an offshore oil company.
US Central Command said it destroyed naval mine storage facilities, missile storage bunkers and other military sites.
Israel had earlier announced another wave of attacks targeting infrastructure in Iran, and said its air force had hit more than 200 targets in the past 24 hours, including missile launchers, defense systems and weapons production sites.
A US official said Friday that 2,500 more Marines are being sent to West Asia with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit and the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli, the largest buildup of military warships and aircraft to the region in decades.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military plans.
Marine expeditionary units can conduct amphibious landings, but also specialize in enhancing security at embassies, evacuating civilians, and providing disaster relief.
The deployment does not necessarily indicate that ground operations will take place. The Wall Street Journal first reported the Marine deployment.
Tripoli was seen by commercial satellites from near Taiwan, putting it more than a week away from Iranian waters.
Earlier in the week, the Navy had 12 ships, including the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and eight destroyers, in the Arabian Sea. The total number of US service members on the ground in West Asia is unclear.
On Saturday, a missile struck a helipad inside the US Embassy compound in Baghdad. No one immediately took responsibility for the attack. The embassy compound, one of the largest US diplomatic facilities in the world, has been repeatedly targeted by rockets and drones fired by Iran-aligned militias.
There was no immediate comment from the embassy. On Friday, it renewed its Level 4 security alert for Iraq, warning that Iran and Iran-aligned militia groups have previously carried out attacks against US civilians, interests, and infrastructure and “may continue to target them”.
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s humanitarian crisis deepened, with more than 800 people killed and 850,000 displaced as Israel launched a wave of strikes against Iran-backed Hezbollah militants.
