Iran Steps Up Attacks On Dubai, Hits Fuel Tank Near Major Airport

Fox News correspondent Lucas Tomlinson joined America Reports on Monday to report on the latest updates from the U.S.-Israeli operation against Iran. Tomlinson, live from Dubai, opened the segment by covering a recent US video debunking the Iranian claim it had sunk a US aircraft carrier and concluded with an update on some of the latest strikes Iran has landed in the UAE – including hitting the main airport earlier in the day.

“That’s right. Good afternoon, Sandra. Not too subtle message there from U.S. Central Command and its leader, Admiral Brad Cooper, after Iran has made multiple claims that the Abraham Lincoln, the aircraft carrier, has been sunk,” Tomlinson began, adding:

So now we see that new video showing some of those F-18 Super Hornets and F-35 stealth fighter jets launching from the strike group, from the aircraft carriers to launch strikes into Iran. And we heard a battlefield update from President Trump, expanding what Admiral Cooper said.

President Trump says that U.S. Forces have launched more than 7,000 strikes on Iran in this war that is now stretching into his third week. We also heard the president provide an intelligence assessment of Iran’s new supreme leader, Mostafa Khamenei.

Our own Peter Doocy asked the president what he thought about the new supreme leader, whether he was, what his status was, whether he’s dead or alive. And President Trump was pretty frank. He said, “We don’t know if he is dead or not. He said he also could be very wounded.”

Now, the Strait of Hormuz, a big focus of the press conference, and really this war right now. The United States and many other countries want to see the Strait of Hormuz reopen. Many are thinking that Iran is holding the strait hostage right now, and the Ayatollah and the leaders in Iran want to keep the price of oil high to put pressure on the Trump administration. Perhaps President Trump returning the favor by launching those strikes at Hormuz Island, a major choke point for the Iranians because they ship 96 percent of their oil from that small island in the northern Persian Gulf.

And we’re now perhaps President Trump wanting to up the ante even more with possible ground forces to invade the island. Those would come right now in the form of these 2,500 Marines aboard the USS Tripoli amphibious ready group currently making best speed from the Pacific to here in the Middle East. They’re about a week away, guys. Now, in addition to the ground forces on board, you have a pretty formal aviation component: fifth generation stealth fighter jets, Ospreys, Super Stallions, and Vipers. Those are helicopter gunships that the Marines fly. Now over the weekend, Iran’s foreign minister claiming his forces are only striking American bases here in the region.

Tomlinson then pivoted to the latest in Dubai, “Now, after a relatively quiet day here in the UAE yesterday, Iran turning up the volume today, firing six ballistic missiles and 21 drones here. Some hit a fuel tank at nearby Dubai International Airport, grounding all flights and causing others to divert.” He added:

The airport has since reopened under a reduced schedule. An Iranian missile also killed a Palestinian national in Abu Dhabi today, about an hour from here, according to authorities. And for the second time in two days, Iran struck the Fujairah oil complex, the Strait of Hormuz used by the UAE to bypass the strait and ship all oil over land to Oman. A continued drone and missile attacks over the weekend in nearby Saudi Arabia and Bahrain led Formula One to cancel the Bahrainian and Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, which had been scheduled for next month. The leaders here in the UAE have expressed ire over Iran’s continued attacks on this country and others in the region. It’s been pretty unprecedented.

“Now here in Dubai, it’s not just a financial capital, it’s a tourist mecca as well. Thousands flock here every year, but right now 16 hotels are effectively closed and some of the occupancy in the hotels is down to 7 percent,” he later concluded.

Watch the clip above via Fox News.

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