PRESIDENT Donald Trump said the US destroyed military sites on an island vital to Iran’s oil network and warned that its oil infrastructure could be next if Iran continues to interfere with the passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz. Trump said US forces on Friday “obliterated” targets on Iran’s Kharg Island, which is home to the primary terminal that handles the country’s oil exports. The speaker of the Iranian parliament had warned that such strikes would provoke a new level of retaliation. A missile struck a helipad inside the US Embassy compound in Baghdad and debris from an intercepted Iranian drone hit an oil facility in the United Arab Emirates as the US-Israel war with Iran entered its third week Saturday. ‘Associated Press’ images showed a column of smoke rising over the embassy compound in the Iraqi capital and a fire in the Fujairah port in the UAE that broke out after what authorities said was a drone interception. Meanwhile, an American official said 2,500 more Marines and an amphibious assault ship are being sent to the Middle East nearly two weeks into the war with the Islamic Republic.

 

Iran has continued to launch widespread missile and drone attacks on Israel and neighbouring Gulf states, and effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil passes, even as US and Israeli warplanes pummel military and other targets across Iran. The US strikes on Iran’s Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf targeted military sites but left its oil infrastructure alone for now, Trump said in a social media post. 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.” Iranian parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf warned on Thursday in a social media post that attacks on the islands on Iran’s southern maritime frontier would cause Iran to “abandon all restraint,” underscoring how central they are to the country’s economy and security.

 

On Saturday, Iran’s joint military command reiterated its threat that it will attack the US-linked oil and energy facilities in the region if the Islamic Republic’s oil infrastructure is hit. Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesperson for the 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.” The joint military command also threatened to attack cities in the United Arab Emirates, saying the US used “ports, docks and hideouts” within UAE cities to launch strikes on the islands, without providing evidence. It called on people to evacuate those areas where it said US forces were sheltering. Iran’s semiofficial Fars news agency Saturday said the US strikes caused no damage to oil infrastructure on the island. It reported at least 15 explosions followed the strikes, which it said targeted an air defence facility, a naval base, the airport control tower and an offshore oil company’s helicopter hangar. A missile struck a helipad inside the US Embassy compound in Baghdad, two Iraqi security officials said. Associated Press footage showed a column of smoke rising Saturday morning over the embassy compound.

 

The sprawling embassy complex, one of the largest US 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 US Embassy in Baghdad. On Friday, the embassy renewed its Level 4 security alert for Iraq, warning that Iran and Iran-aligned militia groups have previously carried out attacks against US citizens, interests and infrastructure, and “may continue to target them.” 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, defence systems and weapons production sites. In Washington, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said that over 15,000 enemy targets have been struck - more than 1,000 a day since the war began. He also 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.