Iran warned it will target American-linked oil and energy facilities in the Middle East if its own infrastructure is attacked, reiterating its threat after the US bombed military targets on the critical outpost of Kharg Island. “All oil, economic, and energy facilities belonging to oil companies in the region that are partly owned by the United States or that cooperate with the United States will be immediately destroyed and reduced to ashes” if Iran’s energy and economic assets are hit, the semi-official Fars News Agency cited the central military command as saying. After the attack on military assets, US President Donald Trump threatened additional strikes on Iran’s oil facilities on the island if Tehran continued to interfere with ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Kharg Island is off the coast of the Iranian mainland and deep in the Persian Gulf. Oil pipelines that terminate there handle the vast majority of Iran’s energy exports, making it crucial for the country’s economy. 15 explosions reported Fars separately reported that more than 15 explosions shook the island, sending thick pillars of smoke into the sky. The agency said the attacks targeted the island’s air defense systems, a naval base, the airport control tower, and a helicopter hangar, but it did not immediately report any casualties or the scale of the damage. Ehsan Jahaniyan, deputy governor of Iran’s southern Bushehr province, said that after the attacks “daily life and routine activities of the residents are also fully maintained.” The attack did not cause any casualties among military personnel, company employees, or residents of Kharg island, he added. The American threat to strike one of the most critical pillars of the Islamic Republic’s economy marks a fresh escalation in Tehran’s war with Israel and the US. On Friday, Trump said the US would continue its campaign as long as necessary, while also insisting the campaign is “way ahead of schedule.” The president also suggested 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 an US official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Marine Expeditionary Units are able to conduct amphibious landings, but they also specialise in bolstering security at embassies, evacuating civilians and disaster relief. ‘Kharg attacked from UAE’ Iran issued an evacuation warning for three major ports in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday, including the busiest in the Middle East, openly threatening a neighbouring country’s non-US assets for the first time as its war with the US and Israel entered its third week. Iran said the US had used “ports, docks and hideouts” in the UAE to launch strikes on Iran’s Kharg Island, without providing evidence. It urged people to evacuate areas where it said US forces were sheltering. Hours after the threat, there was no sign of an attack on Dubai’s Jebel Ali port — the Mideast’s busiest — or Khalifa in Abu Dhabi. Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi told MS NOW the US attacked Kharg Island and Abu Musa Island with low-range artillery 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.

Kharg oil exports ‘normal’ Oil export operations from Kharg island in the Gulf were proceeding as normal Saturday after US strikes on the crude export hub which caused no casualties, a regional official said. Two oil tankers were berthed at Kharg hours after the US attacks there, according to Tankertrackers.com, a firm that specialises in studying satellite imagery to follow ship movements. Both were observed mid morning local time on Saturday. Neither vessel was there on Friday, said its co-founder Samir Madani. AP, bloomberg, AFP