Iran Bombs Kuwait’s Oil Refinery Hours after Arab Nations Demand End to attacks in Region

On Friday morning, an Iranian drone attack hit a Kuwaiti oil refinery, while sirens blared in Israel warning of incoming fire. Simultaneously, loud explosions were heard over Tehran, where Israeli strikes were underway as the country observed the Persian New Year.

This conflict, which has shaken the global economy, is now entering its third week. Iran doesn't seem to be backing down from its attacks on energy facilities in the Gulf region. Kuwait confirmed that two waves of drone strikes targeted its Mina Al-Ahmadi oil refinery, causing a fire that crews are working hard to contain.

This refinery, capable of processing around 730,000 barrels of oil daily, had already been damaged on Thursday in a separate Iranian assault. It's one of just three oil refineries in Kuwait, a small Gulf nation rich in oil.

Iran appears to have intensified its attacks on energy sites within Gulf Arab states following Israel's bombing of Iran's enormous South Pars offshore natural gas field in the Persian Gulf earlier in the week. Additionally, loud explosions could be heard in Jerusalem shortly after the Israeli military warned residents about incoming Iranian missiles.

In a rather uncommon public address, Iran's newly installed Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, declared that the nation's adversaries should have their "security" stripped away. Notably, Mojtaba Khamenei hasn't been seen in public since assuming leadership following the death of his father, the 86-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was reportedly killed in an Israeli airstrike on the very first day of the ongoing conflict.

These comments were part of a statement issued on his behalf and directed to President Masoud Pezeshkian. This communication came after Israel's reported killing of Iran's Intelligence Minister, Esmail Khatib, earlier this week.

Massive explosions rocked Dubai just as the city's air defences took down incoming projectiles overhead. At that moment, people were celebrating Eid al-Fitr, marking the end of the sacred Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, and the city's mosques were ringing out the first call to prayer of the day.

Meanwhile, Bahrain's Interior Ministry reported that a fire broke out after shrapnel from a downed projectile struck a warehouse. In Saudi Arabia, officials confirmed they had shot down several drones that were aimed at the kingdom's oil-rich Eastern Province.

These fresh attacks came on the heels of a very intense day when Iran targeted energy facilities across the region and fired more than a dozen waves of missiles at Israel in retaliation for an attack on its South Pars site.

South Pars, Iran's portion of the world's largest gas field, lies offshore in the Persian Gulf and is co-owned with Qatar. Since about 80% of Iran's electricity is generated using natural gas, the strike directly threatened the country's power supply.

READ ALSO: Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Other Arab Nations Call on Iran to Immediately Halt Attacks in the Region

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel would put any more attacks on that gas field on hold late on Thursday. He said it was because US President Donald Trump had asked them to, right after Iran's response caused oil prices to jump way up.

Netanyahu also claimed they'd managed to take out Iran's ability to make ballistic missiles. But then, on Friday, the Iranian paramilitary Revolutionary Guard pushed back. They said production was still chugging along just fine.

"We're making missiles even during wartime, which is pretty impressive, and there's no trouble at all with stockpiling them," their spokesman, General Ali Mohammad Naeini, was quoted as saying in Iran's state-run newspaper, IRAN.

Actually, Naeini was killed early Friday in an airstrike, according to Iranian state TV. Before that, he'd also said that Iran wasn't aiming for a quick end to the fighting.

He explained, "These people think the war should go on until the enemy is totally worn out. We believe this war needs to end when the shadow of war itself is gone from our country."

On top of Iran's attacks on its Gulf neighbors, its tight control over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz – a crucial waterway through which about a fifth of the world's oil and other vital goods pass – is making people increasingly worried about a potential global energy crisis.

Brent crude oil, the international standard, which spiked to more than US$119 a barrel during Iran’s attacks Thursday, was around US$107 in morning trading on Friday, up more than 47 per cent since Israel and the United States attacked Iran on Feb. 28 to start the conflict.

On Friday morning in Israel, sirens blared across Jerusalem and the northern region, signaling potential attacks and causing people to rush to safety once more. Thankfully, there were no immediate reports of anyone being hurt.

Just moments after Israel confirmed it had started new strikes against Iran, the sounds of explosions could be heard in Tehran. This happened as Iranians were celebrating Nowruz, their New Year holiday.

Reporters from the Associated Press in Tehran felt the ground shake from more air strikes hitting the capital city shortly before noon. Later, Israel’s military announced they had carried out further strikes aimed at targets east of Tehran.

Alongside its ongoing campaign against Iran, Israel has repeatedly targeted Lebanon, specifically going after groups backed by Iran like Hezbollah. On Friday, Israel widened its military actions to include Syria, stating that it hit infrastructure there as a response to recent attacks on the Druze community in southern Sweida province. Syria’s official SANA news agency didn’t immediately confirm these strikes.

Israel, which is home to a substantial Druze population of its own, has a history of protecting its Druze neighbours in Syria. In the past, it has launched dozens of air strikes against Syrian government forces and even hit the Syrian Defence Ministry headquarters right in the centre of Damascus.

Israeli police and the country's domestic security service revealed on Friday that they had arrested a reservist. This man worked with Israel's Iron Dome missile defence system, and they suspect he was selling sensitive security information to Iran. Officials stated that the soldier had been communicating with Iranian intelligence for several months.

Over 1,300 people have lost their lives in Iran due to the ongoing conflict. Meanwhile, Israeli strikes targeting Hezbollah militants in Lebanon have reportedly displaced more than a million individuals, according to Lebanon's government. That same government also says over 1,000 people have been killed in the crossfire. Israel, for its part, claims it has killed more than 500 Hezbollah fighters.

In Israel, 15 people were killed as a result of Iranian missile attacks. Additionally, four others were killed in the occupied West Bank when an Iranian missile struck there. At least 13 U.S. military personnel have also been killed in the violence.

On Friday, the United Arab Emirates announced it had broken up what it described as "a terrorist network backed and run by Lebanon's Hezbollah and Iran."

The UAE stated that they arrested five men accused of money laundering. They claimed these individuals were operating inside the country under a fake business guise, aiming to carry out plots that would jeopardise the nation's financial stability.

The country's official WAM news agency published pictures of the five detained men, but didn't name them.