Dubai, Abu Dhabi News highlights: UAE rejects Iran's claim on Kharg Island attack, Fujairah partially shuts operations

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Dubai, Abu Dhabi news LIVE: The Abu Dhabi authorities on Sunday said they have contained a fire that broke out at an oil facility in Ruwais due to a drone attack.

“The competent authorities in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi have brought under control a fire that broke out after a drone targeted an oil facility in the Ruwais area,” the authorities said on social media.

Dubai, Abu Dhabi news LIVE: Some oil-loading operations have been shut in the Fujairah emirate, a major bunkering hub and crude export terminal, after a drone attack and fire on Saturday, Reuters reported. The suspension comes hours after Iran warned by saying that US interests in the UAE - including ports, docks and military locations - were legitimate targets, following US attack on the Kharg Island.

Dubai, Abu Dhabi news LIVE: The United Arab Emirates rejected Iran's claim that the US strike on Kharg Island was carried out from the Gulf state. Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, said the UAE has the right to defend itself in face of ‘terrorist aggression’, but continues to prioritise reason and logic.

In a post on X, Gargash, said Iran's accusation against the UAE was “part of a confused policy that lacked wisdom.”

Dubai, Abu Dhabi news LIVE: Iran's Tasnim News agency on Saturday said Citibank's Dubai and Manama branches were targeted by unidentified drones on Friday night. Another Iranian news agency Press TV also shared a video claiming on social media, reporting about the strikes.

Press TV soon clarifief that the ‘footage is said to be from a few days ago’. Tasnim's report stated that the strikes took place on Friday. There is no official confirmation from Citibank or other authorities. Read More

Dubai, Abu Dhabi news LIVE: The crowded markers, busy beaches and waterfront promenades have gone quiet in Dubai during the busy tourism as the US-Iran war entered its third week. The spillover of the Iran war has not only disrupted air travel across the Middle East, but the drone and missile attacks in the UAE have dented the country’s image as one of the region’s safest destinations.

Dubai’s most popular tourist areas — including the Al Seef waterfront market along Dubai Creek and beaches near luxury hotels, such as the Burj Al Arab — have seen far fewer visitors than usual, according to AP.

Dubai, Abu Dhabi news LIVE: The Sharjah authorities on Saturday said that an accidental fire that broke out at a petrolium facility was brought under control by the civil defence teams.

The authorities said that the fire resulted from a leak in one of the tanks.

“The operations room received the report at 9:02 pm, following which firefighting and rescue teams immediately moved to the site and began dealing with the blaze in accordance with standard procedures. Teams continue firefighting and cooling operations at the site, while the relevant authorities will begin an investigation into the incident,” the Sharjah media office said in a social media post.

Dubai, Abu Dhabi news LIVE: Iran issued an evacuation warning for three major ports in the UAE on Saturday, including the busiest in the Middle East as the war with the US and Israel entered its third week.

Iran said the US had used "ports, docks and hideouts" in the UAE to launch strikes on Iran's Kharg Island, without providing evidence. It urged people to evacuate areas where it said US forces were sheltering.

Hours after the threat, there was no sign of an attack on Dubai's Jebel Ali port or the Khalifa port in Abu Dhabi.

West Asia conflict: Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Saturday said Iran will target American companies in the region if its energy facilities are attacked in the ongoing conflict against the Islamic republic. The US military struck Kharg Island on Friday, from which nearly all of Iran's oil is exported.

"Our Armed Forces have already answered that they would retaliate if our oil and energy infrastructure are attacked," Araghchi told MS NOW.

US-Iran LIVE: The US Embassy in Baghdad has advised all United States citizens in Iraq to leave the country, citing security concerns in a fresh alert.

Dubai, Abu Dhabi news LIVE: The Embassy of India in Doha has issued an advisory for Indian nationals planning to travel to India through the land border between Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

US-Iran War: Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Saturday that Iran had denied responsibility for missiles fired toward Turkey, adding that Ankara was discussing contradictions between Tehran's statements and available technical data on the launches.

Speaking at a press conference in Ankara, Fidan said Turkish authorities possessed technical data regarding the missiles fired toward Turkey and were raising the inconsistencies with Iranian officials. (Reuters)

Dubai, Abu Dhabi news LIVE: Iran warned it could hit selected targets, including U.S. "hideouts" in the United Arab Emirates, and warned civilians to evacuate on Saturday, projecting defiance after U.S. forces hit military sites at its own main oil hub a day earlier.

Some oil-loading operations have been suspended in the UAE's Fujairah emirate, a major bunkering hub and crude export terminal, industry and trade sources said, with TV footage showing plumes of dark thick smoke rising into the air.

An Iranian military spokesperson called on people in the UAE to evacuate the ports, docks, and 'American hideouts' saying U.S. forces had targeted Iranian islands from those areas.

U.S. President Donald Trump had threatened to strike the oil infrastructure of Iran's Kharg Island hub unless Tehran stopped attacking vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, a warning that could further roil markets coping with a historic supply disruption. (Reuters)

Dubai, Abu Dhabi news LIVE: Police in the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi said on Saturday that 45 people, including several foreigners, had been arrested for allegedly spreading misinformation and filming and sharing locations of incidents online as Iran continued its strikes across the Gulf.

A day after twin drone incidents, blasts were heard and smoke was seen rising in central Dubai on Friday. Authorities later said an aerial threat had been successfully intercepted, and that falling debris caused minor damage to the facade of a building in the city centre. Officials did not specify whether the intercepted object was a missile or a drone.

Meanwhile, air raid sirens sounded in Bahrain hours after a large fire broke out near the airport following Iranian drone strikes on fuel tanks. As the sirens rang out across the country, the interior ministry urged residents to take shelter and remain calm.

The incidents come as tensions in the region continue to rise, with the US–Iran war entering its second week.

US-Iran War: Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas called on Iran on Saturday to refrain from targeting neighbouring countries, while affirming Tehran's right to defend itself against Israel and the United States.

In a rare appeal, Hamas also urged the international community to take steps to end the war that has gripped the Middle East since it began on February 28.

"While affirming the right of the Islamic Republic of Iran to respond to this aggression by all available means in accordance with international norms and laws, the movement calls on the brothers in Iran to avoid targeting neighbouring countries," Hamas said in a statement, its first such public appeal to Tehran.

Hamas's Lebanese ally Hezbollah, meanwhile, has fired hundreds of rockets at Israel since it joined the Middle East war, sending Israelis in the country's north fleeing to shelters. (AFP)

Dubai, Abu Dhabi news LIVE: The United Arab Emirates strongly condemned the targeting of a General Consulate in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Dubai, Abu Dhabi news LIVE: Some oil loading operations in the port of Fujairah, just outside the Strait of Hormuz, have been suspended after a drone attack and fire on Saturday morning, people familiar with the matter said.

The people asked not to be named as they are not authorized to speak to the media.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. and the port of Fujairah did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The attacks come after US forces struck Iran’s Kharg Island, vital to the country’s oil exports. Iran said in response that any strike on oil and energy infrastructure would lead to attacks on US-linked energy facilities in the region.

A widening conflict in the Persian Gulf has upended the energy trade in the region, hitting oil and gas infrastructure and all but cutting off traffic through Hormuz. Fujairah, in the United Arab Emirates and one of the few terminals in the region that is still exporting, has previously reported missile threats. (Bloomberg)

US-Iran War: Some oil-loading operations in Fujairah, a major bunkering hub and crude export terminal in the United Arab Emirates — were suspended after a drone attack and fire on Saturday, industry and trade sources told Reuters.

The disruption affects facilities that handle around 1 million barrels per day of Murban crude, roughly 1% of global oil demand. The port lies outside the Strait of Hormuz.

The suspension comes hours after the United States struck military targets on Kharg Island in Iran

US-Iran War: A missile struck a helipad inside the US Embassy compound in Baghdad and debris from an intercepted Iranian drone hit an oil facility in the United Arab Emirates as the US-Israel war with Iran entered its third week Saturday.

Associated Press images showed a column of smoke rising over the embassy compound in the Iraqi capital and a fire in the Fujairah port in the UAE that broke out after what authorities said was a drone interception.

A day earlier, President Donald Trump said the US has destroyed military sites on an island vital to Iran's oil network and warned that its oil infrastructure could be next if Iran continues to interfere with the passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump said US forces on Friday "obliterated" targets on Iran's Kharg Island, which is home to the primary terminal that handles the country's oil exports. The speaker of the Iranian parliament had warned that such strikes would provoke a new level of retaliation. (AP)

Dubai, Abu Dhabi news LIVE: The National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority in the UAE posted on X, "Maintain a safe distance from debris or any fallen objects, and if you spot anything like that, report it immediately. Your safety is important to us."

US-Iran War: Iran's military warned Saturday that it considers ports in the United Arab Emirates to be legitimate targets and urged residents to avoid them, in a statement carried by state TV.

Tehran "considers it its legitimate right to defend its national sovereignty and territory by striking American enemy missiles located in ports, docks and US military hideouts" in the UAE, the military's central operational command, Khatam Al-Anbiya, said.

The statement urged civilians to "evacuate" port areas. (AFP)

US-Iran War: A missile struck a helipad inside the US Embassy compound in Baghdad and debris from an intercepted Iranian drone hit an oil facility in the United Arab Emirates as the US-Israel war with Iran entered its third week Saturday.

Associated Press images showed a column of smoke rising over the embassy compound in the Iraqi capital and a fire in the Fujairah port in the UAE that broke out after what authorities said was a drone interception.

A day earlier, President Donald Trump said the U.S. has destroyed military sites on an island vital to Iran’s oil network and warned that its oil infrastructure could be next if Iran continues to interfere with the passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz. (AP)

US-Iran War: President Donald Trump said the US destroyed military sites on an island vital to Iran’s oil network and warned that its oil infrastructure could be next if Iran continues to interfere with the passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump said US forces on Friday “obliterated” targets on Iran’s Kharg Island, which is home to the primary terminal that handles the country’s oil exports. The speaker of the Iranian parliament had warned that such strikes would provoke a new level of retaliation.

Meanwhile, an American official said 2,500 more Marines and an amphibious assault ship are being sent to the Middle East nearly two weeks into the war with the Islamic Republic. (AP)

Dubai, Abu Dhabi news LIVE: Smoke was seen rising from the direction of a UAE energy facility, news agency AFP reported.

US-Iran War: President Donald Trump said US forces "obliterated" military targets on Iran's Kharg Island, home to the main terminal that handles the country's oil exports. The speaker of the Iranian parliament had warned that such strikes would provoke a new level of retaliation.

Meanwhile, an American official said 2,500 more Marines and an amphibious assault ship are being sent to the Middle East nearly two weeks into the US-Israeli war with the Islamic Republic.

Iran has continued to launch widespread missile and drone attacks on Israel and neighbouring Gulf states, and has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's traded oil passes, even as US and Israeli warplanes pummel military and other targets across Iran. (AP)