Iran urged people in the United Arab Emirates to evacuate areas around the region’s busiest port and two others as the Iran-U.S. conflict entered its third week, warning of strikes tied to oil exports and threatening a neighboring country’s non-U.S. assets, according to the report.
Tehran said the U.S. used “ports, docks and hideouts” in the UAE to launch strikes on Kharg Island, home to Iran’s main oil-export terminal, without providing evidence. It also urged people to leave areas where it said U.S. forces were sheltering.
Hours later, there was no sign of an attack on Dubai’s Jebel Ali port or on the Khalifa port in Abu Dhabi. Debris from an intercepted Iranian drone hitting an oil facility instead sparked a fire at the third port, in Fujairah.
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi told MS NOW that the U.S. attacked Kharg Island and Abu Musa Island from two UAE locations, Ras Al-Khaimah and a place he described as “very close to Dubai.” He called the strikes dangerous and said Iran “will try to be careful not to attack any populated area” in that location.
U.S. Central Command said it had no response to Iran’s claim. A diplomatic adviser to the UAE’s president, Anwar Gargash, said on social media that the country has the right to defend itself but “still prioritizes reason and logic, and continues exercising restraint.”
Iran’s statements and threats came alongside continued warnings about shipping and oil infrastructure. Speaking on Saturday, U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S. “obliterated” military sites on Kharg Island and said oil infrastructure could be next if Tehran continues to interfere with ships’ passage through the Strait of Hormuz, where about one-fifth of global oil supplies usually transit. He said he hopes China, France, Japan, South Korea, the U.K. and others send warships to keep the strait “open and safe,” while Britain said it was discussing with allies a “range of options” to secure shipping.
Araghchi told MS NOW that the strait was closed only to “those who are attacking us and their allies.” In a social media post, he urged neighbors to “expel foreign aggressors” and described Trump’s call as “begging.”
The report also said Iran’s joint military command reiterated its threat to attack U.S.-linked “oil, economic and energy infrastructures” in the region if Iran’s oil infrastructure is hit. Iran’s semiofficial Fars news agency said the Kharg Island strikes caused no damage to oil infrastructure and said they targeted an air defense facility, a naval base, the airport control tower and an offshore oil company’s helicopter hangar, while U.S. Central Command said it destroyed naval mine storage facilities, missile storage bunkers and other military sites.
In Iraq, a missile struck a helipad inside the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad on Saturday, and no one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. The State Department again warned citizens in Iraq to leave “now,” and it said Iran and Iran-aligned militia groups “may continue to target” U.S. citizens, interests and infrastructure.
The report added that U.S. officials said a buildup was expanding, with 2,500 more Marines with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit and the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli being sent to the Middle East. It said the Tripoli was spotted by commercial satellites near Taiwan, putting it more than a week away from waters off Iran, and noted earlier that the Navy had 12 ships, including the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and eight destroyers, in the Arabian Sea.
Separately, the U.S. Department of Defense identified six service members who died in a military refueling aircraft crash in western Iraq on Thursday while supporting operations against Iran: Maj. John A. Klinner, Capt. Ariana G. Savino, Tech. Sgt. Ashley B. Pruitt, Capt. Seth R. Koval, Capt. Curtis J. Angst and Tech. Sgt. Tyler H. Simmons. Central Command said the crash followed an unspecified incident involving two aircraft in “friendly airspace,” and said the other plane landed safely.