Cairo, Mar 15: Arab Gulf states reported new missile and drone attacks Sunday after Iran threatened to widen its campaign as the war in the Middle East entered its third week.
Israel and the United States attacked Iran on Feb. 28, saying they were striking nuclear and military sites and encouraging the Iranian people to rise against their leaders. Iran has responded with attacks against Israel and neighbouring Gulf states. The war, which shows no signs of ending soon, has upended global air travel, disrupted oil exports from the region and sent fuel prices rising across the world.
Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates warned residents on Sunday that they were working to intercept incoming projectiles, a day after Iran called for the evacuations of three major UAE ports, threatening for the first time a neighbouring country’s non-US assets.
Iran earlier accused the US of using “ports, docks and hideouts” in the UAE to launch strikes on Kharg Island, home to the main terminal handling Iran’s oil exports, without providing evidence. The UAE and other Gulf countries that host US bases have denied allowing their land or airspace to be used for military operations against Iran.
Iranian strikes have killed at least a dozen civilians in Gulf states, most of them migrant workers. In Iran, the International Committee for the Red Cross said more than 1,300 people have been killed so far, while in Israel, 12 people were reported dead by Iranian missile fire, according to the national rescue service Magen David Adom.
At least 13 members of the US military have been killed since the war began, including seven in combat and six who died in a plane crash over Iraq last week.
US President Donald Trump said he hoped allies would send warships to secure the Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s humanitarian crisis deepened, with over 820 people killed, according to the Ministry of Health, and 850,000 displaced as Israel launched waves of strikes and sent additional troops into southern Lebanon.
Iran says the US attacked from close to Dubai
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said the US attacked Kharg Island and Abu Musa Island from two locations in the UAE, Ras Al Khaimah and a place “very close to Dubai,” calling that dangerous and saying Iran “will try to be careful not to attack any populated area” there.
US Central Command said it had no response to Iran’s claim. A diplomatic adviser to the UAE’s president, Anwar Gargash, rejected accusations that the US used its land or air as a base for its attacks on Kharg Island.
Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Arab Gulf neighbours during the war, but it has said it was targeting US assets, even as hits or attempts were reported on civilian ones such as airports and oil fields.
Araghchi said the Strait of Hormuz was closed only to “those who are attacking us and their allies.”
Trump urges allies to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz
As global anxiety soars over oil prices and supplies, Trump said Saturday that he hopes China, France, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and others send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz “open and safe.” Britain, in response, said it was discussing with allies a “range of options” to secure shipping.
Araghchi, in a social media post, urged neighbours to “expel foreign aggressors” and described Trump’s call as “begging.”
Iran’s joint military command has reiterated its threat to attack US-linked “oil, economic and energy infrastructures” in the region if the Islamic Republic’s oil infrastructure is hit.
The US identifies 6 killed in a military aircraft crash
The US Department of Defence on Saturday identified six service members who died when the military refuelling aircraft they were aboard crashed on Thursday while supporting operations against Iran.
The service members were Maj. John A. Klinner, 33; Capt. Ariana G. Savino, 31; Tech. Sgt. Ashley B. Pruitt, 34; Capt. Seth R. Koval, 38; Capt. Curtis J. Angst, 30; and Tech. Sgt. Tyler H. Simmons, 28, according to US officials.
The crash in western Iraq followed an unspecified incident involving two aircraft in “friendly airspace,” according to US Central Command. The other plane landed safely.
Another attack on the US Embassy in Baghdad
A missile struck a helipad inside the US Embassy compound in Baghdad late 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-aligned militias.
The State Department again warned citizens in Iraq to leave “now,” and by land since commercial flights were not available. It noted that Iran and Iran-aligned militia groups “may continue to target” US citizens, interests and infrastructure. (AP)
