DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S.-Israel war with Iran entered its third week Saturday as a missile struck a helipad inside the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad and debris from an intercepted Iranian drone hit an oil facility in the United Arab Emirates, further increasing global anxiety about oil supplies.
Iran’s joint military command threatened to attack cities in the UAE, home to Dubai and one of the world’s busiest airports, saying the U.S. used “ports, docks and hideouts” there to launch strikes on Iran’s Kharg Island, without providing evidence. It called on people to immediately evacuate areas where it said U.S. forces were sheltering, naming Jebel Ali port in Dubai — the Mideast’s busiest — as well as Khalifa port in Abu Dhabi and Fujairah port.
It was the first time Iran has directly threatened non-U.S. assets, in this case commercial ports, in a neighboring country since the war began.
Associated Press images showed smoke rising over the embassy compound in the Iraqi capital and a fire in the UAE’s Fujairah port that broke out after what authorities said was a drone interception.
A day earlier, President Donald Trump said the U.S. destroyed military sites on Kharg Island, vital to Iran’s oil network, and warned that Iran’s oil infrastructure could be next if Tehran continues to interfere with the passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, where vessels are backed up and where one-fifth of global oil supplies usually transit.
Trump said U.S. forces on Friday “obliterated” targets on Kharg Island, which is home to the primary terminal that handles the country’s oil exports.
Iran’s parliament speaker had warned that such strikes would provoke a new level of retaliation.
Meanwhile, a U.S. official said 2,500 more Marines and an amphibious assault ship are being sent to the Middle East, adding to the military’s largest buildup of warships and aircraft in the Middle East in decades.
Iran continued to launch missile and drone attacks on Israel and neighboring Gulf Arab states, and U.S. and Israeli warplanes pummeled military and other targets across Iran.
Lebanon’s humanitarian crisis deepened, with nearly 800 people killed and 850,000 displaced, as Israel launched waves of strikes against Iran-backed Hezbollah militants.
Marines and assault ship will add to US forces
Elements from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit and the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli have been ordered to the Middle East, according to the U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military plans.
Marine Expeditionary Units are able to conduct amphibious landings but also specialize in bolstering security at embassies, evacuating civilians and providing disaster relief. The deployment does not necessarily indicate that a ground operation will take place.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the Marine deployment.
The 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, as well as the Tripoli and other amphibious assault ships carrying the Marines, are based in Japan and have been in the Pacific Ocean for several days, according to images released by the military. The Tripoli was spotted by commercial satellites sailing alone near Taiwan, putting it more than a week away from waters off Iran.
Earlier in the week, the Navy had 12 ships, including the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and eight destroyers, in the Arabian Sea. Should the Tripoli join, it would be the second-largest ship behind the Lincoln there.
The total number of U.S. service members on the ground in the Middle East is not clear. Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, one of the largest in the region, typically houses some 8,000 U.S. troops.
US strikes a key Iranian island after Tehran warning
The U.S. strikes on Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf targeted military sites but left Iran’s oil infrastructure alone for now, Trump said on social media. But he warned that if Iran or anyone else interferes with the passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, he will reconsider his decision not to “wipe out the Oil Infrastructure.”
On Saturday, Iran’s joint military command reiterated its threat to attack U.S.-linked oil and energy facilities in the region if the Islamic Republic’s oil infrastructure is hit.
Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesperson for Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, warned they will target “all oil, economic and energy infrastructures belonging to oil companies across the region that have American shares or cooperate with America.”
Iran’s semiofficial Fars news agency said Saturday the U.S. strikes caused no damage to the island’s oil infrastructure. It said at least 15 explosions followed the strikes, which it said targeted an air defense facility, a naval base, the airport control tower and an offshore oil company’s helicopter hangar.
U.S. Central Command released a video showing the strike and saying it destroyed naval mine storage facilities, missile storage bunkers and other military sites.
Another attack on the US Embassy in Baghdad
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the strike on the embassy’s helipad. The embassy complex, one of the largest U.S. diplomatic facilities in the world, has been repeatedly targeted by rockets and drones fired by Iran-aligned militias.
There was no immediate comment from the embassy. On Friday, it renewed its Level 4 security alert for Iraq, warning that Iran and Iran-aligned militia groups have previously carried out attacks against U.S. citizens, interests and infrastructure and “may continue to target them.”
US says 15,000 targets struck in Iran since the war began
Israel earlier announced another wave of strikes in Iran targeting infrastructure, and said its air force had hit more than 200 targets in the last 24 hours, including missile launchers, defense systems and weapons production sites.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said over 15,000 enemy targets have been struck, more than 1,000 a day since the war began.
He sought to address concerns about the bottling of the Strait of Hormuz, telling reporters: “We have been dealing with it and don’t need to worry about it.”