Iran Hits Back After The U.S. Bombs A Key Island As The War Enters Its Third Week

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran on Saturday issued an evacuation warning for three major ports in the United Arab Emirates, including the busiest in the Middle East, marking the first time it has openly threatened a neighboring country’s assets outside the United States. War with the USA and Israel It has entered its third week.

Iran says US is using “ports, docks and hiding places” in UAE to launch attacks on Iran Kharg Islandwithout providing evidence. He urged people to evacuate areas where he said US forces were harbored.

Hours after the threat, there were no signs of an attack on Dubai’s Jebel Ali port, the busiest port in the Middle East, or the Khalifa port in Abu Dhabi. But images from the Associated Press showed a fire at the third port in Fujairah caused by the wreckage of a captured ship. Iranian drone hit oil facility.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told MS NOW that the US had attacked Kharg Island and Abu Musa Island with low-range artillery from two locations in the UAE, Ras Al-Khaimah and a location “very close to Dubai”, which he said was dangerous and said Iran would “try to be careful not to attack any populated areas” there.

Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones at its Arab Gulf neighbors. warbut it said it was targeting U.S. assets, although attacks or attempted attacks on civilian areas such as airports and oil fields have been reported.

on friday, US President Donald Trump He said the US had “destroyed” military facilities on Kharg Island, where the main terminal handling Iran’s oil exports is located. If Tehran continues to intervene, oil infrastructure could be next, he said Ship passage through the Strait of HormuzWhere ships are backed up and where one-fifth of global oil supply usually transits.

Iran’s parliament speaker said attacks on the country’s oil infrastructure would lead to a new level of retaliation.

As global anxiety rises oil prices and supplyTrump said Saturday he hoped China, France, Japan, South Korea, Britain and others would send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz “open and safe.” In response, Britain said it was discussing “a range of options” with its allies to secure shipping.

Iran’s joint military command on Saturday reiterated its threat to attack US-linked “oil, economic and energy infrastructures” in the region if the Islamic Republic’s oil infrastructure is hit.

Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency said the Kharg Island attacks did not damage oil infrastructure. He said they targeted an air defense facility, a naval base, an airport control tower and the helicopter hangar of an offshore oil company.

U.S. Central Command said it destroyed offshore mine storage facilities, missile storage bunkers and other military installations.

Israel previously announced a new wave of attacks targeting infrastructure in Iran, saying its air force had hit more than 200 targets in the past 24 hours, including missile launchers, defense systems and weapons production facilities.

Another 2,500 Marines along with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit and the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli are being sent to the Middle East, a U.S. official said Friday, adding to the military’s largest military buildup. warships and aircraft It has been in the region for 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. Deployment does not necessarily indicate that a ground operation will occur. The Wall Street Journal first reported the Marine deployment.

Tripoli was detected by commercial satellites sailing near Taiwan, indicating that Tripoli was more than a week away from waters off the coast of Iran.

At the start of the week, the Navy had 12 ships in the Arabian Sea, including the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and eight destroyers. The total number of US soldiers serving in the Middle East is not clear.

A missile hit the helipad at the US Embassy compound in Baghdad on Saturday. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. The embassy complex, one of the largest US diplomatic facilities in the world, has been repeatedly targeted by rockets and drones fired by Iran-allied militias.

There has been no statement from the embassy yet. On Friday, it renewed its Level 4 security alert for Iraq, warning that Iran and Iran-linked militia groups have previously launched attacks against U.S. citizens, interests and infrastructure and “may continue to target them.”

Meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis in Lebanon has deepened with more than 800 deaths and 850,000 people were displaced While Israel launches waves of attacks against Iran-backed Hezbollah militants.

Mednick reported from Tel Aviv, Israel; Magdy from Cairo and Toropin from Washington. Associated Press writers Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem, Sally Abou AlJoud, Kareem Chehayeb and Bassem Mroue in Beirut; Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad; Will Weissert at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, and Tia Goldenberg in Washington contributed to this report.