A Kuwaiti tanker caught fire due to a drone attack in the UAE amid Iran’s Gulf attacks. US-Israel war over Iran news

An apparent Iranian attack on a fully loaded Kuwaiti crude oil tanker at Dubai port sparked a fire that was later extinguished, officials said.

Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) said early Tuesday that the Al Salmi tanker, anchored in port in the United Arab Emirates, was hit by an Iranian attack, causing damage to the ship and a fire.

Kuwaiti state news agency KUNA reported that the KPC warned of a possible oil spill into surrounding waters.

Authorities in Dubai reported that a drone attack hit a Kuwaiti oil tanker overnight, and response teams brought the incident under control.

According to the Dubai Media Office, they said no oil spill or injuries have been reported.

Al Jazeera’s Zein Basrawi, reporting from Dubai, said several loud explosions were heard in Dubai starting at around 6 or 7 a.m. local time on Monday and ending at around 1 or 2 a.m. on Tuesday.

“These attacks seem to be coming closer; they are getting faster and one of them hit that oil tanker off the coast of Dubai,” he said.

“People appear to be on high alert once more, as evidenced by the sound of military jets patrolling the sky,” Basravi stated.

Work is now underway to assess the damage caused to the tanker, said KPC, which is the parent company of Al Salmi, the registered owner and commercial operator, according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence data.

The tanker was loaded with ⁠two million barrels of oil from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, according to data from Lloyd’s and TankerTrackers. Lloyd’s lists the destination as Qiangdao, China.

The attack on Al Salmi is the latest in a series of attacks on merchant vessels by missiles or explosive aerial and maritime drones in the Gulf and Strait of Hormuz since the United States and Israel began war on Iran on February 28.

Earlier on Monday, a Greek-owned container ship off the coast of Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia, reported two separate incidents where projectiles hit the water near the ship, maritime safety experts said.

Meanwhile, the operator of a Thai cargo ship hit by a projectile near the Strait of Hormuz said a search team was able to board the ship but did not locate its three missing crew members.

Mayuri Nari had been inactive after hitting just north of Oman earlier this month.

Other regional attacks

Al Jazeera’s Malik Traina, reporting from Kuwait City on Tuesday, said there had been “multiple attacks” across the Gulf, including in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain over the past several hours.

“In the UAE, four people suffered minor injuries in the Al Baada area of ​​Dubai,” he said.

“Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain all reported overnight attacks and successfully intercepted missiles and drones.”

On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia said its air defences intercepted and destroyed 10 drones and eight ballistic missiles during a new wave of attacks.

“Ten drones were intercepted and destroyed in the past few hours,” the Saudi Defence Ministry said in a statement on X, citing a ministry spokesman. The Saudi Defence Ministry also reported the interception and destruction of seven ballistic missiles targeting the Riyadh region and one targeting the Eastern Province.

Iran’s foreign minister insisted on Tuesday that Tehran’s attacks on Gulf Arab states only target US forces, even though the strikes have hit civilian targets across the region.

“Iran respects the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and considers it a brotherly nation,” Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on Twitter, sharing a photo that reportedly shows damage to a US aircraft at the Prince Sultan Air Base in the kingdom.

“Our operations are aimed at enemy aggressors who have no respect for Arabs or Iranians, nor can they provide any protection… This is the right time to pull out American forces.”