FUEL storage infrastructure at Oman’s Port of Salalah was hit by Iranian drones on Wednesday, marking another escalation in attacks on energy assets across the Gulf as the regional conflict increasingly threatens global oil supply routes.
Maritime security firm Ambrey and Omani state media confirmed that the strike damaged storage tanks within the port’s oil facilities. Authorities said no commercial vessels in the surrounding waters were struck during the attack, Oilprice.com reported.
Footage shared online by the OSINT account Visioner showed plumes of smoke rising from the oil storage area shortly after the strike.
The incident comes amid a growing wave of attacks on energy infrastructure across the Middle East since the war involving Iran, the United States, and Israel intensified in the last two weeks.
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The Port of Salalah, located on Oman’s southern Arabian Sea coast, has gained importance in recent months as oil tankers seek routes that avoid the increasingly unstable Strait of Hormuz. The latest strike has therefore raised fears that Iran may be extending the battlefield beyond the narrow Gulf chokepoint to other energy logistics hubs used by global oil markets.
Expanding campaign against energy infrastructure
The attack on Salalah is part of a broader pattern of strikes targeting oil facilities across the region since hostilities escalated in late February.
Earlier in March, drones struck a fuel storage tank at the Port of Duqm in Oman, another strategic export and logistics hub positioned outside the Strait of Hormuz.
Saudi Arabia has also faced similar attacks. Drone debris previously ignited a fire at the massive Ras Tanura refinery, forcing a temporary halt to operations at the kingdom’s key oil export facility.
Commercial ships also targeted
Iranian forces simultaneously targeted vessels attempting to navigate the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, according to statements issued by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and reported by Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency.
The IRGC said it fired on the Thai-flagged bulk carrier Mayuree Naree, accusing the vessel of ignoring warnings and attempting to cross the strait unlawfully. Another vessel, the Liberian-flagged Express Rome, was also reportedly struck after failing to heed orders from Iranian naval units.
Ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic indicated that both ships had been operating in the strait earlier in the day.
According to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), at least 13 maritime incidents have been recorded across the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, and Gulf of Oman since the conflict began on February 28 following U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran and Tehran’s retaliation. Three of those attacks occurred on Wednesday alone.
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Earlier the same day, a spokesperson for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya military command headquarters warned that Tehran would not allow ‘even a single liter of oil’ to pass through the Strait of Hormuz for the benefit of the United States, Israel, or their allies.
With strikes now hitting ports, storage tanks, and commercial vessels at the same time, analysts warn the conflict is evolving into a broader effort to disrupt the Middle East’s oil supply network.
