The complete halt to crude oil loading at Iraq’s terminals occurred Thursday after a drone struck an oil tanker at the Basra terminal, four Iraqi oil and security sources told Reuters. There were no material damages or fires from the incident, but operations were suspended 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 determined. The affected tanker was towed out of the port along with another vessel anchored nearby as an additional safety measure.
Drone attacks on strategic areas of Iraq
On Wednesday, another drone was reported to have fallen in the Iraqi port of Faw without causing damage, the state news agency said. Port operations were not affected at that time.
The country typically exports around 3.6 million barrels of oil per day. Before the war with Iran, about 3.4 million barrels per day were shipped through the southern terminals, specifically Basra.
In recent hours, eight drones were intercepted while attempting to attack the U.S. consulate and an international coalition base at Erbil airport in the autonomous Kurdistan region, officials said. The attack took place between Wednesday night and early Thursday, the Kurdistan Counter-Terrorism Service reported. The unmanned aircraft were shot down by U.S.-led coalition forces 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 visit, al-Zaidi aims to outline his plans to disarm Iran-aligned Iraqi Shia militias, which have been blamed for similar actions in the past and are designated as terrorist groups by the United States.
In a message on X, al-Zaidi said he has ordered security agencies to “undertake all necessary efforts to prevent the recurrence of these attacks and to eradicate anyone who seeks to threaten security, wherever they may be.” He added that “they desperately seek to undermine the stability of our people and their determined path toward state-building and the achievement of social peace.”
Bahaa al-Araji, leader of the Reconstruction and Development parliamentary bloc and al-Zaidi’s main political backer, warned on the same social network that “the attack on Erbil sends negative and totally unacceptable political messages, and occurs at a critical moment that benefits no one.”
The attack on Erbil comes amid a campaign led by al-Zaidi to disarm Iran-aligned Shia militias. In recent years, similar actions have targeted oil fields and facilities operated by U.S. companies in the Kurdistan region.
Finally, the impact of a drone of unknown origin on Wednesday at the Grand Faw port—a mega-project at Iraq’s southern tip—adds to the recent string of drone incidents at the country’s strategic facilities.