Wed 19 June 2019:
Three Iraqi workers wounded as rocket lands on headquarters of several major companies in latest oil attack.
A rocket landed at the headquarters of several global oil companies, including US giant ExxonMobil, in Iraq’s southern city of Basra early on Wednesday, wounding three Iraqi workers and raising alarm amid rising tensions between the US and Iran in the region. The rocket hit the Burjesia residential and operations headquarters west of Basra, Iraqi police said. Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford, reporting from Basra, said a local security official confirmed Exxon evacuated 21 foreign staff immediately. Other companies operating at the site include Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Italian Eni SpA.
“The oil ministry is saying that oil production in the area has not been affected by this attack,” Stratford said, adding that the security official described the rocket used as a Katyusha. “[But] we are seeing what can only be described as an increase in the frequency of such incidents, over the last month and a half there has been a number involving rockets fired at what has been interpreted to be foreign interests here,” he added.
Wednesday’s incident was the latest in a spate of attacks on oil infrastructure in the region and came after the United States evacuated hundreds of diplomatic staff from its Baghdad embassy last month, citing unspecified threats from Iran against US interests. Washington has blacklisted Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which has ties to a number of armed groups operating in Iraq, as a “terrorist group”. Iran has done the same to US forces operating in the Middle East.
Oil attacks continue
Last Thursday, two explosions occurred on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman. Four oil vessels were targeted in May, also near the Strait of Hormuz – a key transit route for oil and gas from the Middle East. It remains unclear who was responsible for the blasts. US officials have pointed a finger at Iran, which has denied all accusations. Earlier this week, on Tuesday, a rocket landed near an Iraqi military base hosting US forces in the northern city of Mosul, an Iraqi military statement said.
Three rockets hit another base hosting US troops north Baghdad, on Monday. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. The series of incidents take place as tensions continue to ramp up between the US and Iran, with Iraq seen as a possible site for any violent flare-up between the two rivals. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s administration did not want war with the Islamic Republic. However, Pompeo vowed Washington would continue to pursue a “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran, which it accuses of being a destabilising actor in the Middle East.
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
