Iran attacks fully loaded oil tanker in Dubai port. Kuwait warns of oil spill risk

Iran attacked a fully loaded crude oil tanker off the coast of Dubai on March 31.

This is reported by Reuters and The Guardian.

The vessel, the Kuwaiti-flagged Al-Salmi, is carrying about 2 million barrels of oil, worth more than $200 million at current prices. Crude oil prices briefly rose after the attack was reported.

Iranian drones attacked a vessel near the anchorage in the port of Dubai, damaging the hull and causing a fire on board. Dubai authorities later said they had managed to bring the fire under control after the drone attack on the tanker. No injuries were reported.

The shipʼs owner, the oil corporation Kuwait Petroleum Corp, warned of a possible oil spill in the surrounding waters.

Before the attack, President Donald Trump warned that the US would destroy Iranʼs power plants and oil wells if it did not open the Strait of Hormuz. He said the US had made "a lot of progress" in talks with Iran.

“But if for some reason a deal is not reached soon, which is likely to happen, and if the Strait of Hormuz is not immediately ʼopen for business,’ we will end our wonderful ʼstay’ in Iran by blowing up and completely destroying all of their power plants, oil wells, and Kharg Island,” he declared.

War in the Middle East

On the morning of February 28, the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran. These attacks killed Iranʼs Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and almost the entire military leadership of the country — about 40 key high-ranking officials. A new ayatollah was elected on March 8, and he was Mojtaba Khamenei (the son of the deceased Ali Khamenei).

Iran, in response to the US and Israeli attacks, has begun shelling US bases in Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE and firing missiles at Israel. Some Iranian drones and missiles have hit infrastructure and residential areas in Arab countries.

The war has halted tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow sea corridor between Iran and Oman that connects the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean. About a fifth of the worldʼs oil exports pass through it, tens of millions of barrels a day. Markets reacted immediately, sending oil, gas and precious metals soaring in price.

In particular, on March 9, world oil prices exceeded $100 per barrel for the first time in almost four years.

To keep prices down, the International Energy Agency has decided to release 400 million barrels of oil, and the US plans to release 172 million barrels of oil from its strategic reserve. On March 12, the US lifted sanctions on the purchase of Russian oil that was stuck at sea for 30 days, and a week later it gave permission for Iranian oil.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump claims that negotiations are currently underway with Iran, allegedly initiated by Tehran itself. During them, according to the US president, the parties reached an agreement on 15 points. One of them is Iranʼs refusal to give up nuclear weapons. Amid the negotiations, the US suspended attacks on Iranian energy facilities until April 6.

In addition to committing Iran not to develop nuclear weapons, Trumpʼs 15-point plan includes limiting Tehranʼs defense capabilities, shutting down regional proxy groups, and restoring shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. It also requires Iran to hand over highly enriched uranium to the United States.

On March 30, Trump announced that Iran had agreed to most of the demands of his 15-point peace plan. As a confirmation of its readiness for the agreements, Iran handed over a “gift” to the United States — 20 oil tankers that passed through the Strait of Hormuz.

Pakistan acted as a mediator in the negotiations between Iran and the US, and the countryʼs Foreign Ministry reported its readiness to hold a meeting of representatives of these countries in the coming days in its capital Islamabad.

For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine, please follow us on X.