'Legitimate Targets': Iran Asks People To Leave Port Areas In UAE

Smoke was seen rising from the direction of Fujairah's energy installations today as Iran warned residents of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to immediately evacuate areas around three of the country's major ports. The warning came hours after the US bombed Iran's Kharg Island oil hub.

Iran's news agency Tasnim asked people to move away from Jebel Ali port in Dubai, Khalifa port in Abu Dhabi, and Fujairah port. "These areas have become legitimate targets due to the presence and concealment of US military forces among civilian installations and will be targeted in the coming hours," the agency said.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) followed with a direct warning to the UAE's leadership. IRGC spokesperson Ebrahim Zolfaghari said Iran viewed it as its "legitimate right" to strike ports and docks being used by US forces "under the cover of Emirati cities." The IRGC also said ships moving through the Strait of Hormuz, despite warnings from US President Donald Trump, would be targeted.

UAE authorities said debris from a successfully intercepted drone had caused a fire, without specifying a location. The dark clouds of smoke seen from Fujairah were consistent with the port area, which houses a major oil storage and trading hub as well as a key export terminal. Drone strikes had already hit the UAE's Fujairah energy installations earlier this month.

The US strike on Kharg Island, which handles roughly 90 per cent of Iran's crude oil exports, came on Friday. The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said over 90 Iranian military targets were struck, including naval mine storage facilities and missile storage bunkers, while "preserving the oil infrastructure." Iranian state media confirmed the strikes. Iran's military launched a fresh wave of missiles on Saturday, state broadcaster Press TV reported.

Since the war began, Iran has methodically targeted Gulf energy infrastructure from Kuwait to Oman. The strikes have hit oil and gas fields and major complexes including the Ras Tanura refinery in Saudi Arabia, the Ras Laffan gas processing base in Qatar, and the complex housing the UAE's Ruwais refinery.

Iran has effectively halted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint through which roughly a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas normally passes. The UAE has faced repeated missile and drone barrages since Tehran began retaliatory strikes across the Gulf following the US-Israeli campaign against Iran.

On Saturday, the UAE's foreign ministry condemned the targeting of its consulate in Iraqi Kurdistan for the second time in a week.

Lana Nusseibeh, a minister of state in the UAE's foreign ministry, said on Friday that Iran must halt its attacks before any mediation becomes possible.

"It is difficult to talk about mediation when under attack," she told news agency Reuters. "Mediation can only happen when the guns go silent." She said Iranian officials had given no indication during her visit to Tehran two weeks before the conflict erupted that the UAE was a target, making the attacks "so shocking and so egregious."

Iran has maintained that its strikes are directed at US military interests in the region. The UAE, along with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq, Jordan, and Turkey, hosts US military facilities.

With inputs from agencies