Top updates: Flights resume at Dubai airport after nearby drone strike led to temporary suspension

Flights at Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates were disrupted on Monday morning after services were temporarily suspended when a drone struck one of the fuel tanks near the airport, amid escalating tensions in West Asia.

The authorities in Dubai said the fire was under control and that no injuries had been reported.

Following the temporary suspension, some flights were diverted from Dubai International Airport to Al Maktoum International Airport in Jebel Ali on the outskirts of Dubai.

Later, the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority announced the “gradual resumption of some flights to and from Dubai International Airport” to selected destinations.

Here are more top updates from the conflict in West Asia:

• An Indian-flagged oil tanker was unharmed during a drone attack on Fujairah port in the UAE and has set sail for India carrying 80,800 metric tonnes of crude oil, the Union government said on Sunday. The Indian-flagged Jag Laadki tanker was loading crude oil at Fujairah when the port’s oil terminal was attacked. All Indian seafarers in West Asia are safe and no incident involving Indian sailors has been reported since Saturday, the government said in a statement.
• The United Arab Emirates on Sunday ordered the arrest of 25 persons, including 17 Indians, for publishing allegedly misleading or fabricated videos on social media amid the ongoing conflict. The accused have been referred for an “expedited trial”. This is in addition to 10 persons, including two Indians, who were arrested on Saturday for similar offences.
• Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday condemned Israeli strikes on Tehran’s fuel depots as “ecocide”, citing long-term environmental and health risks. “Israel must be punished for its war crimes,” he said.
• Araghchi told CBS News on Sunday that Iran has allowed some vessels from “different countries” to pass through the Strait of Hormuz in a “safe and secure [manner]”, but did not provide details about which countries were permitted.
• United States President Donald Trump on Sunday urged North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, warning of a “very bad” future if they don’t, the Financial Times reported. Trump added that he might delay his summit with China’s President Xi Jinping to press Beijing to assist in the process. 
• “It’s only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the Strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there,” Trump told the newspaper. 
• When asked if the US was at fault for the missile strike on an elementary school in Iran that killed more than 165 persons, many of them children, Trump replied, “We don’t know”, while adding that the incident is “under investigation,” AP reported.
• Japan on Monday began releasing oil reserves equivalent to about 45 days’ supply to mitigate potential shortages as the conflict continues, starting with 15 days of private-sector reserves followed by one month of state-held oil, AP reported. 

The conflict

The conflict in West Asia began on February 28 after Israel and the US launched a joint operation to “degrade the capabilities” of the Iranian government.

Tehran retaliated by striking Israel and US military bases in the region, and targeting major cities in other Gulf countries and some ships.

The joint attacks by Israel and the US on Iran came amid tensions between the three countries over Tehran’s nuclear programme. Washington acts as a guarantor of Israel’s security. Israel has been claiming that Iran is close to obtaining a nuclear weapon, which could alter the regional security balance.

Tehran has long maintained that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes.

Iran has effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterbody connecting the Gulf to the Arabian Sea, for most international commercial vessels. About 20% of global petroleum supply passes through the maritime chokepoint.

The International Energy Agency on Thursday said that the fighting has caused the “largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market”.

Global oil prices have surged since the conflict began. The benchmark Brent crude oil price has crossed the $100 per barrel-mark. The price was about $72.8 per barrel on February 27, a day before the conflict began.