DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An oil refinery in Kuwait was attacked by an Iranian drone early Friday, sirens sounded in Israel warning of coming fire, and explosions rang out over Tehran as Israel struck Iran, which coincided with the Persian New Year.
As the war that has rocked the global economy neared its third week, Iran showed no sign of relaxing its attacks on the Gulf region’s energy structure and Kuwait said a drone strike at its Mina Ahmadi refinery sparked a fire that workers were working to control.
The refinery, which can process about 730,000 barrels of oil per day, was damaged in another Iranian attack on Thursday. It is one of three refineries in Kuwait, a small oil-rich country in the Persian Gulf.
Iran has stepped up attacks on Gulf Arab energy bases after Israel bombed Iran’s South Pars offshore gas field in the Persian Gulf on Wednesday.
Explosion in Dubai, warehouse fire in Bahrain
The violent blast rocked Dubai, with air defense systems intercepting early incoming fire over the city as people celebrated Eid al-Fitr, the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, and mosques called out prayers for the first time in the day.
Bahrain’s interior ministry said shrapnel from an intercepted shell landed in a warehouse, sparking a fire, and Saudi Arabia reported downing multiple drones targeting its oil-rich eastern province.
The new attacks came after a tense day in which Iran attacked energy infrastructure around the region and fired more than a dozen missiles at Israel following an attack on South Pars.
The South Pars gas field is the Iranian portion of the world’s largest natural gas field, located offshore the Persian Gulf and jointly owned with Qatar. Since about 80% of Iran’s electricity comes from natural gas, the attack posed a direct threat to the country’s power supply.
Worries about global energy crisis grow
Late Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country would postpone any further attacks on gas fields at the request of U.S. President Donald Trump after Iran’s response sent oil prices soaring.
In addition to Iran’s attacks on its Gulf Arab neighbors, its control of shipping in the Strait of Hormuz has fueled growing concerns about a global energy crisis. The Strait of Hormuz is a strategic waterway through which one-fifth of the world’s oil and other critical cargo is transported.
Brent crude, the international standard, surged above $119 a barrel on Thursday amid the Iranian attack and was trading around $107 early on Friday, with Brent crude up more than 47% since the conflict started between Israel and the United States on February 28 after an attack on Iran.
Israeli alerts and Tehran explosions
In Israel, sirens sounded early Friday warning of attacks in Jerusalem and the country’s north, with people again scrambling for shelter. There have been no reports of casualties.
Shortly after Israel announced a new round of strikes against Iran, explosions were heard in Tehran as Iranians celebrated Nowruz, the Persian New Year. No further details are available at this time.
More than 1,300 people in Iran have been killed in the war. Israeli attacks on the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon have displaced more than 1 million people and killed more than 1,000 people, according to the Lebanese government. Israel says it has killed more than 500 Hezbollah militants.
In Israel, an Iranian missile attack killed 15 people. Iranian missile strikes also killed four people in the occupied West Bank.
At least 13 members of the US military were killed.
UAE arrests five people accused of trying to destabilize country’s finances
The UAE said on Friday it disrupted what it called a “terror network funded and operated by Lebanese Hezbollah and Iran.”
It arrested five men on charges of money laundering, accusing them of “operating within the country under fictitious business cover” in an attempt to carry out schemes that threatened the country’s financial stability.
It published photos of the five prisoners on its state-run WAM news agency but did not reveal their identities.
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Rising reports from Bangkok. Giovanna Dell’Orto in Miami, Florida, contributed to this report.