Iran urges UAE residents to stay away from ports

Iran's military warned Saturday that it considers ports in the United Arab Emirates to be legitimate targets and urged residents to avoid them, in a statement carried by state TV. Tehran "considers it its legitimate right to defend its national sovereignty and territory by striking American enemy missiles located in ports, docks and US military hideouts" in the UAE, the military's central operational command, Khatam Al-Anbiya, said. The statement urged civilians to "evacuate" port areas. The warning came as smoke was seen rising from the direction of a major energy installation in the UAE on Saturday, in what appeared to be the latest strike targeting petroleum facilities in the Gulf — hours after the United States said it had hit Iran’s key oil hub on Kharg Island. Dark black smoke was visible from Fujairah, home to one of the region’s major ports and a key oil storage and trading hub. The port also hosts an important crude export terminal. Local authorities later said in an online statement that debris falling after the interception of a drone had sparked a fire, though they did not specify the exact location of the incident. The development came hours after Donald Trump said US forces had bombed targets on Kharg Island — which handles the majority of Iran’s crude exports — and warned that the island’s broader oil infrastructure could also be targeted. Energy facilities in Fujairah were also struck earlier this month when debris from an intercepted drone ignited a fire, authorities said. Since the start of the conflict, Iran has repeatedly targeted major energy infrastructure across the Gulf, from Kuwait to Oman. Many of the strikes have hit large oil and gas installations, including facilities such as the Ras Tanura Refinery in Saudi Arabia, the Ras Laffan Industrial City gas complex in Qatar, and the complex housing the Ruwais Refinery in the United Arab Emirates. Iran has also effectively halted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping route that previously carried around 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas before the conflict began.