This is the moment an Iranian missile strike blows up Bahrain’s biggest petroleum refinery in a move that is affecting global markets.
A huge fireball can be seen at the primary refinery for the Bahrain Petroleum Company in Ma’ameer, following a ballistic missile attack against the facility by Iran.
Bahrain’s Ministry of the Interior says that a facility in an oil infrastructure area was attacked.
‘One facility in Maameer was targeted, and the relevant authorities are handling the incident’, it said in a post on social media.
‘The fire that broke out in one of the facilities in Maameer, which was targeted by the Iranian aggression, has been brought under control. Limited material damage was reported, with no loss of life’
But it marked yet another Iranian strike targeting the region’s oil industry, the lifeblood of the Gulf Arab states.
The Bahrain Defence Force said it destroyed 75 missiles and 123 drones ‘targeting the Kingdom since the start of the brutal Iranian aggression’, in a post on its Instagram.
The violence has spread across the region, with attacks also reported in Saudi Arabia, Oman and Kuwait.
Maameer is home to the Bahrain Petroleum Company refinery, along with a number of other factories that produce materials including concrete and asphalt.
Military analysts say the attack is not directed at Bahrain alone but is linked to the country’s close strategic relationship with the United States.
Benchmark US oil contracts of West Texas intermediate have soared more than 5 percent to $78.88 per barrel, the highest level since January last year, as the US-Israel war on Iran threatens supplies.
The international benchmark Brent North Sea crude jumped 3.6 percent to $84.34 per barrel.
Iran’s wave of attacks came amid threats that the US would ‘bitterly regret’ torpedoing an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean.
Elsewhere, a religious leader called for ‘Trump’s blood’, while Israel said it had begun a ‘large-scale’ attack on Tehran.
(Credits: REUTERS)
Later on Thursday, US President Donald Trump told news website Axios said he wants to be involved in selecting Iran’s next leader and called Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s son an ‘unacceptable’ potential pick.
‘Khamenei’s son is unacceptable to me,’ Mr Trump said of Mojtaba Khamenei, the 56-year-old son of the supreme leader killed on the first day of the war. Mr Trump added: ‘We want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran.’
The president also derided him as ‘a lightweight’.
‘I have to be involved in the appointment, like with Delcy in Venezuela,’ said Mr Trump, referring to the acting president in the South American country.