Meanwhile, the UAE’s foreign ministry reported a tanker affiliated with Adnoc, its state-owned oil company, was hit in the Strait of Hormuz. South Korea also reported an explosion on one of its ships anchored just off the UAE.
UAE authorities also reported air defences had engaged 12 ballistic missiles, three cruise missiles and four drones. Local officials said one strike caused a large fire and three injuries at its key oil port of Fujairah.
India’s foreign ministry said the three injured people were Indian nationals and that the attack on Fujairah was “unacceptable”.
Abu Dhabi called the attacks a “dangerous escalation” and said it reserved the right to respond. Iranian state TV has quoted an unnamed military official as saying that Iran had “no plans to target the UAE”.
International leaders have condemned the attacks on UAE infrastructure.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the strikes were “unjustified and unacceptable”. British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the UK will continue to “support the defence of our partners in the Gulf”.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called for an end to the blockade of the strait, saying “Tehran must return to the negotiating table and stop holding the region and the world hostage”.
In a post on X, Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry called on Iran to “respect the principles of good neighborliness”.
The benchmark Brent crude oil price passed $115 a barrel shortly after the reports that Fujairah had come under attack, up more than 5% on the day.
Fujairah lies on the UAE’s eastern coast on the Gulf of Oman, beyond the Strait of Hormuz. A pipeline from the oilfields of Abu Dhabi runs to Fujairah, allowing limited amounts of crude to be loaded on to tankers and shipped to world markets despite the strait being effectively blockaded.
Neighbouring Qatar condemned the attack on the tanker affiliated with Adnoc and called for the strait’s “unconditional reopening”.
In Oman, two people were injured when a residential building was targeted in Bukha, along the coastline of the Strait of Hormuz, state media reported on Monday.
On Sunday, Trump said the US would start helping stranded vessels out of the shipping lane as part of “Project Freedom”. An estimated 20,000 seafarers on 2,000 ships have been stuck since the US-Iran war began in February.
The president said the US had been asked by countries “from all over the World” to help free up their ships which were “locked up in the Strait of Hormuz” and were “merely neutral and innocent bystanders!”.
There has been growing concern over dwindling supplies and the effects on sailors’ physical and mental health.
But Trump did not say how they would be able to sail away – he only threatened to use force “if, in any way, this Humanitarian process is interfered with”.
