All loading of crude oil at Iraqi terminals was suspended on Thursday after a drone struck an oil tanker at the Basra terminal, four Iraqi oil-sector and security sources told Reuters. There were no material damages or fires from the incident, but operations were halted as a precaution.
Iraq’s oil terminals are located in the south of the country. Sources said the party responsible for launching the drone has not yet been identified. The affected tanker was towed out of the port along with another vessel anchored nearby as an additional safety measure.
Drone attacks in strategic areas of Iraq
On Wednesday, another drone fell in the Iraqi port of Faw without causing damage, the state news agency reported. Port operations were not affected at that time.
The country normally exports about 3.6 million barrels of oil per day. Before the war with Iran, roughly 3.4 million barrels per day were shipped through the southern terminals, notably Basra.
In the last hours, eight drones were intercepted when they attempted to attack the U.S. consulate and an international coalition base at Erbil airport in the autonomous Kurdistan region, according to official sources. The attack took place between Wednesday night and early Thursday, the Kurdistan Counter-Terrorism Service said. The unmanned aircraft were shot down by forces from the U.S.-led coalition before reaching their targets, and there were no casualties.
Official reactions and political context
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al Zaidi strongly condemned the attempted attack, which coincided with his first official visit to Washington since taking office in May. During his stay, al Zaidi aims to outline his plans to disarm Iran-aligned Iraqi Shia militias, groups that have been blamed for similar actions in the past and are designated as terrorist by the United States.
In a message on X, al Zaidi said he had ordered security agencies to “undertake all necessary efforts to prevent the recurrence of these attacks and to eradicate anyone who attempts to threaten security, wherever they are.” He added that “they desperately seek to undermine the stability of our people and their firm path toward state-building and achieving social peace.”
Bahaa al Araji, leader of the Reconstruction and Development parliamentary bloc and a principal political backer of al Zaidi, warned on the same social network that “the attack on Erbil sends negative and completely unacceptable political messages, and comes at a critical moment that benefits no one.”
The attack on Erbil occurs within the context of al Zaidi’s campaign to disarm the Iran-aligned Shia militias. In recent years, such groups have targeted oil fields and facilities operated by U.S. companies in the Kurdistan region.
Finally, the strike by a drone of unknown origin on Wednesday at the Grand Faw port, a mega-project at Iraq’s southern tip, adds to the recent series of drone incidents at the country’s strategic facilities.