Iran fires missiles, drones at Gulf nations as ship hit in Strait of Hormuz

Tehran keeps up daily pressure while facing heavy strikes from the US and Israel, as UNSC readies vote on GCC bid urging Iran to halt attacks on its neighbours.

Iran has fired missiles and drones at targets across the Gulf, including a United States base in Kuwait, in what it called its 37th wave of attacks on day 12 of the US-Israel war on Iran. The attacks come as tensions rise over a global energy crisis, with a vessel ablaze in the Strait of Hormuz.

The United Nations Security Council was to vote later in the day on a resolution sponsored by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) demanding that Iran stop attacking its Arab neighbours.

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The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Wednesday said it had fired four missiles at the headquarters of US forces in the Middle East, including two missiles targeting Camp Arifjan in Kuwait.

Authorities in Kuwait did not confirm the reports. However, the country’s National Guard said that eight drones targeting the country had been downed.

In the Qatari capital, Doha, several explosions were heard on Wednesday morning as Qatar’s Ministry of Defence said that the country’s military had intercepted a new missile attack aimed at the Gulf nation.

“A little west of the city, we saw interceptions—those smoke clouds when the defensive weapons that Qatar has make contact with those incoming missiles,” Al Jazeera’s Zein Basravi reported from Doha. “These have become a common feature not just here, but across the GCC.”

Saudi Arabia’s Defence Ministry said early on Wednesday it had destroyed five drones heading towards the kingdom’s vast Shaybah oilfield in the Empty Quarter desert. It added that it had intercepted and destroyed two drones in the Eastern Province.

In Bahrain, Iranian attacks wounded dozens, including children, in Sitra near Manama, with a fire breaking out at a Ma’ameer facility after a drone strike.

Earlier, one woman was killed and eight people injured after a drone hit a residential building in Manama.

The United Arab Emirates also said it had responded to incoming missiles and drone threats from Iran. The Dubai Media Office said two drones fell in the vicinity of Dubai International airport, wounding four people.

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said an unknown projectile had struck a container vessel, setting it on fire, in the Strait of Hormuz, some 25 nautical miles (46km) northwest of the UAE’s Ras Al-Khaimah emirate.

“The master of a bulk carrier has reported their vessel being hit by an unknown projectile. There is no report of any environmental impact. The crew are reported safe and well,” the UKMTO said.

The British military later said another vessel, ⁠a bulk carrier, has been ⁠hit by an unknown ⁠projectile 50 nautical miles (93km) northwest of ‌Dubai.

The crew are reported ⁠safe ⁠and authorities are investigating, the UKMTO said.

Tensions over the Strait of Hormuz

Concerns are mounting that the war could choke traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital corridor for global oil and gas supplies, driving Brent crude up about 20 percent since the conflict began and already pushing up pump prices worldwide.

The turmoil has rattled financial markets amid fears of prolonged disruption to energy flows.

The US military said on Tuesday it had destroyed 16 Iranian minelayers near the Strait of Hormuz, though President Donald Trump said there were still no confirmed reports that Iran had begun mining the passage, a scenario experts had flagged in the run-up to the war.

Amin Nasser, the president and CEO of Saudi Arabia’s oil giant Aramco, warned on Tuesday that if oil tankers continue to be unable to transit the strait, “that will have a serious impact on the global economy”.