Fire broke out at a major oil industry zone in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on May 4 after a drone attack originating from Iran, authorities said, as the Gulf state’s military separately intercepted three Iranian missiles over its waters and a fourth crashed into the sea.
Civil defence teams were deployed immediately to contain the blaze at the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone, the Fujairah Media Office said in a statement, adding that three Indian citizens were moderately injured in the attack and taken to hospital.
The UAE defence ministry said on X that its forces had intercepted three missiles, with a fourth falling into the sea.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Navy issued a map it said showed an expansion of areas under Iranian control near the Strait of Hormuz, encompassing the UAE ports of Fujairah and Khorfakkan as well as the coast of the Umm Al Quwain emirate, Iranian news agencies reported.
The drone attacks shattered a period of relative calm in the UAE since a Pakistani-mediated ceasefire between Washington and Tehran took effect on April 8, pausing more than two months of intense fighting in the Gulf region.
During the period of intense conflict, the UAE said it had intercepted and destroyed thousands of drones and missiles.
UAE authorities on May 4 issued mobile phone alerts in Dubai and Abu Dhabi warning of the possibility of missile attacks.
The strike on May 4 was not the first time Fujairah’s energy infrastructure had been in the crosshairs. A drone attack on March 14 had previously hit the Port of Fujairah, triggering fires and the suspension of some oil-loading operations.
Fujairah has been critical to UAE oil exports during the Iran war as it sits at the end of the Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline, which carries crude from inland fields to the Gulf of Oman, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz.
This has allowed the UAE to continue shipping oil to global markets even as the waterway remained under threat. REUTERS
