UAE's largest port caught fire after drone attack

A fire broke out in the largest port of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Fujairah after a drone strike, a number of oil loading operations were suspended, Bloomberg reports, citing sources.

The drone was intercepted at the port on Saturday, March 14. Fallen debris led to a fire. There are no reports of casualties. The export of crude oil and fuel from Fujairah was suspended as a precautionary measure while assessing the damage from the incident, the sources explained.

Fujairah is one of the few terminals in the region that still exports oil. It is located near the blocked Strait of Hormuz, but beyond it. Other ports still exporting Middle Eastern oil include Yanbu Na The Red Sea — in Saudi Arabia, and Mina al-Fahal in Oman.

The suspension of exports at a key UAE port demonstrated the vulnerability of the country's only export route in the conditions of blocking the Strait of Hormuz, Bloomberg writes. Earlier, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) recalled that in the event of an attack on the country's energy facilities, all oil and gas facilities of interest to the United States would be destroyed.

In addition, another blow from Iran fell on the branches of the American bank Citibank in Dubai and Manama. The IRGC press service explained that the attack was a response to strikes against two Iranian banks.

"If the enemy repeats its actions, all branches of American banks in the region will become our legitimate target," they stressed.

On the eve of US President Donald Trump said that the Central Command, on his instructions, conducted "one of the most powerful bombing raids in the history of the Middle East" and completely destroyed all military targets on the "pearl of Iran" — Khark Island, RBC reminds.