This Saturday, March 14, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard claimed attacks against Citibank branches in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, on the day that Tehran’s diplomacy threatened more North American companies if its energy infrastructure was bombed again.
Drone operations on Friday night in Dubai and Manama against US-based Citibank were justified by Iranian forces spokesman Ali Mohammad Naeini as a response to “enemy aggression” against two Iranian banks, according to Tasnim news agency.
Ali Mohammad Naeini warned that if Iranian financial institutions are attacked again, all branches of US banks in the region will be considered “legitimate targets.”
Last Wednesday, Iranian forces accused the United States and Israel of attacking a bank in the country “after failing their military objectives”, which they claim gives them “carte blanche” to respond “forcefully” against their economic centers throughout the Middle East.
Furthermore, they advised residents of countries in the region to maintain a distance of at least one kilometer from North American or Israeli banks.
The commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s naval force, Alireza Tangsiri, stated that his forces also attacked “key targets” in three US air bases located in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar in several waves.
These attacks came after the United States launched an attack on Friday night on the Iranian island of Kharg, the center of the country’s oil industry.
US President Donald Trump considered it “one of the most powerful bombings” in the history of the Middle East, which he says completely annihilated all military targets on the island, where 90% of Iranian oil exports are stored.
Conversely, the Iranian news agency Fars reported that none of the island’s oil infrastructure was damaged.
Following the attack on Kharg, Iran today threatened to attack more US company facilities in the Middle East if its energy infrastructure is targeted again.
“In the event of an attack on Iranian facilities, Iranian forces will attack facilities belonging to US companies in the region or companies in which the United States has a stake,” warned Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, quoted by Tasnim.
Tehran’s head of diplomacy stated that his country will “without a doubt” respond to any attack on its energy facilities, but stressed that it will act “with caution to avoid reaching densely populated areas”.
On February 28, the United States and Israel launched an air offensive against Iran, which killed its supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, on the first day of bombings.
Since then, the Islamic Republic has responded through missile and drone attacks on Israel and neighboring countries in the Middle East, targeting in particular North American military bases, but also other infrastructure, especially energy.
Leave a Reply