Abu Dhabi halts Iran trade after missiles and an Al-Jabsah gas-line blast
Abu Dhabi closed trade with Iran after two sea-bound missiles, Al-Jabsah gas flow stopped after sabotage, and 22 Congress members questioned USS Lincoln's 260-day deployment.
Geopolitics··Morning
Abu Dhabi cuts trade after two missiles fall into the sea
The United Arab Emirates foreign ministry said on Tuesday that trade, commercial exchanges and financial transactions with Iran are suspended until further notice. A few hours earlier, the defence ministry in Abu Dhabi said two ballistic missiles launched from Iran had targeted maritime traffic and fallen into the sea. In a post on X, the ministry said it stood ready to respond to any threat. Abu Dhabi gave Iran's regional escalation, which it said undermines regional and international peace and security, as its reason for the suspension. Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei rejected the accusation as baseless. According to Middle East Eye, the announcement followed a phone alert telling residents to seek shelter, the first such warning since a false alarm in June, and tankers belonging to the state oil company ADNOC have been struck repeatedly in recent weeks.[1]
An Al-Jabsah blast halts the gas export line
Syria's petroleum company said on Tuesday that an explosion at a gas export pipeline at the Al-Jabsah gas plant halted the flow through the line. The company gave its account in a statement to Syria's state news agency. It said initial investigations pointed to a deliberate act of sabotage and that there were no injuries among workers. The report published by Middle East Eye attributes the blast to no group, and the statement does not say when the line will return to service. The incident at the Al-Jabsah plant is recorded as a claimed attack on energy infrastructure. Although the operator called it sabotage, no perpetrator or responsible party was named. The blast targeted the gas export pipeline, so the line is effectively stopped; no repair timetable was announced.[2]
22 Congress members ask about the Lincoln's 260-day deployment
US Representative Pat Ryan published on Tuesday a letter to acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao, signed by 22 members of Congress. It asks how the navy prepared the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln for a deployment that has now passed 260 days at sea without a port call, the longest in the service's history. According to Al Jazeera, the letter said lengthy deployments have become a pattern in the administration's handling of its war against Iran. Ryan pointed to the USS Gerald Ford, which also broke deployment records in the same war. The ship left San Diego in November and has taken part in operations against Venezuela as well as the war on Iran. Reports have emerged in recent weeks of crew members attempting to jump overboard amid shortages of food and other supplies. In at least three separate appeals, Democrats have asked for more information about the ship's preparation.[3]
