Iran steps up attacks on energy targets as tankers hit

Iran has stepped up attacks on energy targets in the Gulf, as two fuel tankers were hit by explosions and burst into flames.

Fires are burning around the region with fuel and oil storage tanks hit in Bahrain and Oman.

Tehran said the world should be ready for oil at $200 per barrel and warned that any tanker bound for the US, Israel and its partners was a legitimate target. The regime has also declared it has the right to strike financial institutions in the region, after an attack on an Iranian bank.

The two tankers were set ablaze near Iraq’s southern port of Basra, forcing a pause of operations at the country’s oil terminals.

The Iraqi News Agency, citing a military official, reports that 38 crew members were rescued and one person died.

Iran’s official news agency IRNA said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) struck one of the two ships – a US-owned vessel, the Safesea Vishnu – because it had ignored warnings and failed to comply with orders.

A second vessel, Greek-owned and Maltese-flagged Zefyros, was struck while it was in the middle of a ship-to-ship transfer with the Safesea Vishnu, the vessel’s manager Benetech Shipping said.

Separately, a Chinese-owned container ship of the coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was “struck by an unknown projectile causing a small fire onboard”, the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) Centre said.

On Wednesday night, Bahrain authorities accused Iran of targeting fuel tanks near its international airport.

On Thursday morning, Fire crews in Oman were still working to contain a blaze at fuel storage tanks from Wednesday’s strike on the port of Salalah.

The conflict across the Middle East follows the wide-ranging US-Israeli strikes on Iran on 28 February, which killed the country’s supreme leader.

More than 1,300 people have died and 17,000 have been injured in Iran since the conflict began, Iran’s Ambassador to the UN Amir-Saeid Iravani has said.