Iran has hit two of the world's largest aluminum plants and is now threatening American universities in the Gulf
Iran said on Sunday morning it had attacked two of the world's most important aluminum plants, located in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, raising fears of a new dimension of disruption to the world economy after a month of war in the Middle East.
In a conflict that shows no sign of de-escalation, Iran and Israel continued to hit each other on Sunday, with several Gulf countries reporting renewed Iranian attacks on their territories. Yemen's Houthi rebels opened a new front in the war on Saturday, launching two attacks against Israel.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards claimed responsibility for the missile and drone attacks that damaged the Bahrain Aluminum (Alba) and Emirates Global Aluminum (Ega) factories on Saturday through state-run Irib radio and television station.
“Significant damage”
The Alba factory, one of the world's largest, had already announced on March 15 the closure of 19% of its production capacity to deal with supply disruptions caused by Iran's blockade of the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
On Sunday, the company confirmed that two of its employees were slightly injured in the Iranian attack and said it was assessing the extent of the damage at its factory.
On Saturday, Ega said in turn that its plant in Al Taweelah, Abu Dhabi, one of its two facilities in the United Arab Emirates, had suffered “significant damage” in an attack that left six injured.
These two companies “due to the investments and participations of American companies, play an important role in supplying the military industries of the American army,” the Revolutionary Guards said, adding that they struck in retaliation for American-Israeli attacks against industrial infrastructures in Iran.
Threats to American Universities
The Revolutionary Guards also threatened on Sunday to hit American universities in the Middle East in retaliation for attacks that they said damaged two universities in Iran.
Numerous American universities have campuses in the Gulf countries, such as Texas A&M University, located in Qatar, or New York University, in the United Arab Emirates.
Missile and drone launches continued across the region on Sunday. In Tehran, an AFP journalist heard two loud explosions coming from the north of the city on Sunday.
In Israel, the military reported, as in previous nights, Iranian missiles headed for its territory and asked the population in the affected areas to take shelter. Alerts were later lifted.
Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates also reported drone and missile attacks early Sunday.
Diplomatic efforts have intensified in recent days to try to end the war, and Turkish, Pakistani, Egyptian and Saudi officials are due to meet in Islamabad on Sunday and Monday for “in-depth discussions”.
