Phil Desjardins

💢 REPORT: Drone strike disrupts UAE oil hub after U.S. hit Iran’s Kharg Island, Tehran warns ports hosting U.S. forces Some oil-loading operations were suspended at Fujairah, a major UAE crude export hub outside the Strait of Hormuz, after a drone interception this morning sparked a fire near the port, Reuters reported. Here are the details: 🔽 ➤ Videos show two columns of smoke rising from the terminal. Fujairah has been handling about 1.8 million barrels per day of the UAE’s Murban crude, and crucially is a key bypass for exports to the Strait of Hormuz. ➤ The Fujairah media office said debris from an intercepted drone caused the fire and no injuries were reported. The incident came hours after U.S. strikes on Iran’s Kharg Island, the country’s main oil export terminal handling about 90% of Iran’s crude exports. ➤ Iran’s judiciary-linked Mizan news agency later said that U.S. forces operate from Jebel Ali (Dubai), Khalifa (Abu Dhabi), and Fujairah ports, calling them potential targets and urging people to leave areas near the ports. ➤ A spokesperson for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya air defense headquarters accused the U.S. of launching missiles at Iran’s Kharg island “from the cover of ports, docks, and hideouts in cities of the UAE.” ➤ The spokesperson warned Iran considers it its “legitimate right… to strike and target the launch points of enemy American missiles in shipping ports, docks, and the hideouts of U.S. forces sheltered in some UAE cities.” ➤ “We ask the Muslim people of the UAE… to evacuate the ports, docks, and American hideouts in UAE cities so that they will not be harmed.”