dailynewsnblog
CAIRO (AP) — Gulf states reported new missile and drone attacks Sunday after Tehran threatened to widen its campaign and called for the evacuation of three major ports in the United Arab Emirates as Iranian strikes there — part of a broader war with the United States and Israel — progress into their third week.
Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE warned people that they were working to intercept incoming projectiles, a day after Iran called for the port evacuations, threatening for the first time a neighboring country’s non-U.S. assets.
Iran earlier accused the United States 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 U.S. 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. At least 13 members of the U.S. military have been killed since the war began, including seven in combat and six who died in a plane crash over Iraq last week.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he hoped allies would send warships to secure the Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s humanitarian crisis deepened, with over 800 people killed and 850,000 displaced as Israel launched waves of strikes against Iran-backed Hezbollah militants.
Iran says the US attacked from close to Dubai
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said the U.S. 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.
U.S. 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 U.S. used its land or air as a base for their attacks on Kharg Island.
Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Arab Gulf neighbors during the war, but it has said it was targeting U.S. 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 Strait of Hormuz
As global anxiety soars over oil prices and supplies, Trump said Saturday that he hopes China, France, Japan, South Korea, the U.K. 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.
