A missile struck a helipad inside the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad on Saturday after the U.S. struck Iran’s Kharg Island as tensions escalated in the widening U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran. At the same time, debris from an intercepted Iranian drone ignited a fire at an oil facility in the United Arab Emirates, signaling the growing regional impact of the fighting.
Images captured by The Associated Press showed smoke rising over the embassy complex in Iraq’s capital. In the UAE, flames were seen at Fujairah port after authorities said a drone was intercepted nearby.
The incidents came a day after President Donald Trump said the United States had struck military targets on Iran’s Kharg Island, a critical hub in the country’s oil export network. The president warned that Iran’s broader oil infrastructure could be targeted if Tehran continues disrupting ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
U.S. Deploys Marines And Warship As Middle East Tensions Escalate
The United States is reinforcing its military presence in the region, with an American official telling The Associated Press that 2,500 additional Marines and an amphibious assault ship are being deployed to the Middle East.
Elements of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, along with the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli, are heading toward the region, the official said while speaking anonymously due to the sensitivity of the plans.
Marine Expeditionary Units are capable of conducting amphibious landings but also specialize in securing embassies, evacuating civilians and providing disaster relief. Their deployment does not necessarily signal that a ground operation is imminent.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the additional Marine movement.
The 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit and the Tripoli are based in Japan and have been sailing in the Pacific Ocean for several days, according to military-released imagery. Commercial satellite data previously spotted the Tripoli operating alone near Taiwan, placing it more than a week from waters near Iran.
Earlier in the week, the U.S. Navy had 12 ships in the Arabian Sea, including the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and eight destroyers. If the Tripoli joins the fleet, it would become the second-largest vessel operating in the region after the Lincoln.
The total number of American troops in the Middle East remains unclear, though Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar alone typically hosts about 8,000 U.S. personnel.
U.S. Strikes Kharg Island As Iran Threatens Retaliation
Trump said U.S. forces on Friday “obliterated” targets on Iran’s Kharg Island, located in the Persian Gulf. The island houses the country’s main oil export terminal, which handles a significant share of Iranian crude shipments.
In a social media post, the president said the strikes targeted military sites while leaving oil infrastructure untouched. However, he warned that if Iran or others interfere with shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, he may reconsider the decision not to “wipe out the Oil Infrastructure.”
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf warned earlier that attacks on islands along Iran’s southern maritime frontier would prompt the country to “abandon all restraint.”
On Saturday, Iran’s joint military command reiterated its warning that it would target U.S.-linked oil and energy facilities across the region if Iranian oil infrastructure is attacked.
Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesperson for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said Iran would strike “all oil, economic, and energy infrastructures belonging to oil companies across the region that have American shares or cooperate with America.”
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Iranian military officials also threatened to strike cities in the UAE, claiming the U.S. used “ports, docks and hideouts” there to launch strikes on Iranian islands. No evidence was provided.
Authorities urged people to leave areas where they said U.S. forces might be operating.
Iran’s semiofficial Fars news agency reported that the U.S. strikes did not damage Kharg Island’s oil infrastructure. According to the agency, at least 15 explosions occurred during the attack, which reportedly targeted an air defense facility, a naval base, the airport control tower and a helicopter hangar belonging to an offshore oil company.
The U.S. Central Command later released video on X showing the strike, saying it destroyed naval mine storage facilities, missile bunkers and other military sites.
Missile Strike Hits U.S. Embassy Compound In Baghdad
The missile strike that hit the helipad at the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad marked another attack against the heavily fortified diplomatic facility.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the strike. The embassy complex — one of the largest U.S. diplomatic missions in the world — has frequently been targeted by rockets and drones launched by militias aligned with Iran.
The embassy had renewed its Level 4 security alert for Iraq a day earlier, warning that Iran and allied militia groups have previously carried out attacks against U.S. citizens, facilities and infrastructure. Officials cautioned that such attacks “may continue to target them.”
U.S. Says More Than 15,000 Targets Hit Inside Iran
Israel also launched another wave of airstrikes against Iranian infrastructure, saying its air force struck more than 200 targets in the past 24 hours. Those targets included missile launchers, defense systems and weapons manufacturing facilities.
In Washington, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the scale of the campaign has been extensive. According to Hegseth, more than 15,000 enemy targets have been hit since the conflict began — averaging over 1,000 strikes per day.
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He also addressed concerns about Iran effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz, through which about one-fifth of the world’s traded oil flows. “We have been dealing with it and don’t need to worry about it,” Hegseth told reporters.
