Drone strike hits gas tank close to Dubai airport as hearth breaks out at main UAE oil terminal: Live updates

EU foreign ministers will today discuss expanding the bloc’s Red Sea naval mission to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, European Commission Vice-President Kaja Kallas said.

The Iran war has virtually halted activity in the key waterway, through which a fifth of the world’s crude supplies and a substantial amount of gas normally run – sending oil prices soaring.

‘It is in our interest to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, and that’s why we are also discussing what we can do in this regard,’ Kallas told journalists in Brussels ahead of the talks.

An option on the table would be to change the mandate of the EU’s naval mission in the Red Sea, Operation Aspides, Kallas said.

She suggested this would be the ‘fastest’ way for the 27-member bloc to boost security in the Strait of Hormuz, where Iranian retaliatory attacks to a US-Israeli bombing campaign have largely halted maritime traffic.

‘If we want to have security in this region, then it would be easiest to actually already use the operation that we have in the region, and maybe a change a bit,’ she said.

Oil prices jumped further above $100 a barrel today and Asian stocks mostly fell as the Iran war moved into a third week.

Both sides are showing no sign of backing down as diplomats try to ensure safe passage for tankers through the crucial Strait of Hormuz.

Crude shot up in the opening minutes of trading after Donald Trump said at the weekend that forces struck military targets on Kharg Island, a scrubby stretch of land in the Gulf that handles almost all of Iran’s oil exports.

Both main crude contracts advanced, with Brent up around three percent to as high as $106.50 before paring the gains to about $104, while West Texas Intermediate climbed more than two percent to top $100.

Trump warned attacks could expand to energy infrastructure if the Islamic republic interferes with transit through Hormuz, which has been effectively closed since the US-Israel operations began on February 28.

Sir Keir Starmer meets Canadian premier Mark Carney in Downing Street

Sir Keir Starmer appears set to refuse DonaldTrump’s demand for Royal Navy warships to secure the Strait of Hormuz.

The key oil and gas route is being blockaded by Iran in response to the US-Israeli campaign against Iran.

The UK could potentially instead send mine-hunting drones to the region rather than a warship.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Trump reiterated his call for allied assistance in the Strait of Hormuz, telling the paper: “It’s only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there.”

Trump has previously called for the UK, China, France, Japan and South Korea to send ships to secure the route.

An ally of Sir Keir played down the US president’s warning about Nato’s future, saying there was always a lot of rhetoric from the White House.

Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden told Sky News: ‘It’s a very transactional presidency and our job is to navigate this, to always remember that the friendship between the United States and the United Kingdom runs very deep. It’s a good relationship. It’s enduring and I think it will outlast all the personalities involved.’

Oil loading operations have been suspended at the United Arab Emirates port of Fujairah after a drone attack sparked a fire in the emirate’s petroleum industrial zone.

Fujairah, located on the Gulf of Oman just outside the Strait of Hormuz, is typically a critical exit point for about 1 million barrels per day of the UAE’s Murban crude – a volume equivalent to roughly 1% of global demand.

Civil defense teams are currently working to control the blaze, the Fujairah government media office said in a statement, adding that no casualties have been reported.

The suspension marks the second major disruption at the vital bunkering hub in recent days. Operations at Fujairah had resumed on Sunday following a separate drone strike over the weekend.

The attacks come as the ongoing US-Israeli war with Iran strangles shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman that normally handles a fifth of the world’s oil supply.

Beijing has said it is in talks with Washington over a visit by US President Donald Trump expected this month.

‘China and the United States are maintaining communication regarding President Trump’s visit to China,’ Lin Jian, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, told a press conference, without addressing Trump’s recent pressure on NATO allies and China to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Washington has said Trump will visit China from March 31 to April 2, although Beijing has yet to confirm those dates in line with its usual practice.

It comes as Donald Trump signalled he may delay his visit to China’s capital.

In an interview with the Financial Times Sunday, Trump said he expected China to help unblock the strait before he travels to Beijing for a summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

Traffic was busier in Tehran over the weekend, according to witnesses

Iran’s rulers have remained defiant despite their supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, being killed on day one.

The new ayatollah, Mojtaba Khamenei, has not been seen in public since the start of the war, reportedly injured in the strike that killed his father.

Despite the violence, some Iranians have sought to restore some normalcy in recent days.

Journalists in Tehran reported traffic was busier over the weekend with some cafes and restaurants reopening and more than a third of stalls in the Tajrish bazaar, a popular shopping hub, open ahead of the upcoming Persian new year.

In Mazandaran province on the Caspian Sea, 49-year-old Ali told the AFP news agency shops were crowded despite steep price rises.

‘Only the main square is closed every night, and government demonstrations take place,’ he said, adding that only Iran’s domestic intranet was working, without outside connections.

More than 1,200 people have been killed by US and Israeli strikes, according to Iranian health ministry figures that could not be independently verified.

The Israeli military has said it had begun what it described as ‘limited ground operations’ against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

‘In recent days, IDF troops from the 91st division have begun limited and targeted ground operations against key Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon, aimed at enhancing the forward defence area,’ the military said in a statement.

‘This activity is part of broader defensive efforts to establish and strengthen a forward defensive posture, which includes the dismantling of terrorist infrastructure and the elimination of terrorists operating in the area, in order to remove threats and create an additional layer of security for residents of northern Israel,’ it said.

Lebanon was dragged into the Middle East war on March 2 when Iran-backed Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes, with Israel launching air raids on the neighbouring country and troop incursions into border areas.

The Israeli military has said it has destroyed a plane used by Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei at Tehran’s Mehrabad airport overnight.

It said the aircraft had been used by senior Iranian officials and military figures to travel domestically and internationally and coordinate with allied countries.

Oil loading operations at Fujairah port in the UAE have been suspended following a drone strike.

Authorities in the UAE say the damage is being attacked following an attack at the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone but there are no casualties.

Sources have said oil loading operations have been temporarily suspended as a result.

Fujairah, outside the Strait of Hormuz, exported more than 1.7 million barrels per day of crude oil and refined fuels on average last year, according to Kpler data, a volume equal to about 1.7% of daily world demand.

It also has the Middle East’s largest commercial storage capacity for refined products.

Iran has fired over 1,900 missiles and drones at the United Arab Emirates, more than any other country targeted by Tehran since the start of the Middle East war.

The attack has upended travel plans for many thousands and caused many to flee Dubai.

Iranian projectiles have taken aim at US assets but also civilian infrastructure, including landmarks, airports, ports and oil facilities around the Gulf, after US-Israeli attacks decimated its leadership.

The UAE has reported six deaths since the war began, including four civilians and two military personnel, who died in a helicopter crash blamed on a technical malfunction.

Two witnesses told they saw a thick plume of black smoke rising from the direction of the airport at around 10:00 local Dubai time (6am GMT), hours after the incident.

A witness at Dubai airport told the AFP news agency that passengers awaiting their flights had been evacuated to a lower floor after the attack for several hours.

‘It has been a difficult few weeks hearing explosions regularly, but the Iranian attacks followed me in my last hours before I could fly back home’ they added.

The Dubai fuel attacks came after attacks on fuel depots last weekend plunged Tehran into darkness as poisonous black clouds rose from burning oil facilities.

Dubai authorities say flights are gradually resuming after a ‘drone-related incident’ sparked a fuel tank fire near the airport earlier today.

‘Flights to and from DXB are gradually resuming to selected destinations, following the temporary suspension implemented as a precautionary measure,’ Dubai Airports said in a statement on X.

The latest incident near what is usually the world’s busiest airport for international travel affected a fuel tank, the Dubai media office said, later adding that authorities had contained a fire that broke out and reporting no injuries.

The UAE airline Emirates said it expected to operate a ‘limited schedule’ after 10:00 am Dubai time (0600 GMT) and that some flights had been cancelled.

It had earlier told passengers not to come to the airport and said it was working with authorities ‘to assess the situation and support the safe resumption of operations when possible’.