Iran warned it would target US-linked oil and energy facilities in the Middle East if its own infrastructure was attacked, reiterating its threat after the US bombed military bases on the vital outpost of Kharag Island. “All oil, economic and energy facilities belonging to oil companies in the region, which are partly owned by the United States or which cooperate with the United States, will be immediately destroyed and turned into ashes,” the semi-official Fars news agency quoted the Central Military Command as saying. Following the attack on military assets, US President Donald Trump threatened additional attacks on Iran’s oil facilities on the island if Tehran continued to interfere with ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Kharg Island lies off the coast of the Iranian mainland and deep in the Persian Gulf. Oil pipelines terminating there handle most of Iran’s energy exports, making it vital to the country’s economy. 15 explosions reported Fars reported separately that more than 15 explosions shook the island, sending thick plumes of smoke into the sky. The agency said the attacks targeted the island’s air defense systems, a naval base, an airport control tower and a helicopter hangar, but it did not immediately report any casualties or the scale of the damage. Ehsan Jahanian, deputy governor of Iran’s southern Bushehr province, said that “residents’ daily life and regular activities have also been fully restored” after the attacks. He said there were no casualties among military personnel, company employees or residents of Kharg Island in the attack. The US threat to attack one of the most important pillars of the Islamic republic’s economy signals a new escalation in Tehran’s war with Israel and the US. On Friday, Trump said the US would continue the campaign as long as necessary, while stressing that the campaign was “far ahead of schedule.” The President also suggested that the US Navy would begin escorting ships through the Strait of Hormuz “very soon”. The US military has ordered 2,500 Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit and the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli to the Middle East, according to a US official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Marine expeditionary units are capable of conducting amphibious landings, but they also specialize in enhancing security at embassies, evacuating civilians, and disaster relief. ‘Attack on Kharg from UAE’ Iran on Saturday issued a warning to evacuate three major ports in the United Arab Emirates, including the Middle East’s busiest port, openly threatening the neighboring country’s non-US assets for the first time 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 on Dubai’s Jebel Ali port – the Middle East’s busiest port – or the Khalifa in Abu Dhabi. 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”.
Kharag oil exports ‘normal’ Oil export operations from Kharag Island in the Gulf were running normally on Saturday, with no casualties, following a US attack on a crude export hub, a regional official said. Two oil tankers were spotted anchoring off Kharg hours after the US attack, according to Tankertrackers.com, a company that specializes in studying satellite imagery to monitor ship movements. Both were seen in the morning local time on Saturday. Its co-founder Samir Madani said no ships were there on Friday. AP, Bloomberg, AFP