Iran has issued an evacuation warning for three major ports in the United Arab Emirates as regional hostilities expand across the Gulf. Tehran claims the United States used regional ports, docks, and hideouts to launch recent military strikes against Iranian infrastructure.
The warnings follow an NBC News interview where Donald Trump stated that US forces “totally demolished” most of Iran’s Kharg Island oil export hub. Trump expressed surprise that Iran retaliated against US allies in the Gulf, stating the allied nations “got shot at unnecessarily.” He added that the US “may hit it a few more times just for fun” and noted that Tehran’s terms for a diplomatic resolution “aren’t good enough yet.”
Trump’s assessment of the Kharg Island damage contrasts with prior statements from US Central Command, which reported that precision strikes hit 90 military targets on the island while specifically “preserving the oil infrastructure.” The island serves as the primary terminal for the vast majority of Iranian oil shipments. The expanding conflict has virtually closed the Strait of Hormuz and caused global energy prices to surge.
Iran has issued an evacuation warning for three major ports in the United Arab Emirates. Iran has accused the UAE of allowing the US to use its facilities to launch strikes on Kharg Island from which most of Iran's oil exports are shipped#MorningLive#SABCNews
— SABCNews_MorningLive (@MorningLiveSABC) March 15, 2026
Gulf states previously assured Tehran that their military bases would not be utilized for US attacks. Despite these assurances, Iran has launched thousands of missiles and drones at regional airports, military bases, and oil refineries over the last two weeks.
Casualties continue to mount across multiple fronts. A strike on a factory producing heaters and refrigerators in the central Iranian city of Isfahan killed at least 15 people, according to the semi-official Fars news agency. In Lebanon, the health ministry reported that strikes have killed 826 people since the hostilities began, including 106 children and 65 women. The death toll includes 31 paramedics, with 12 medical staff killed in a recent strike on a clinic in Burj Qalaouiya.