DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) mdash; Iran urged people Saturday to evacuate the Middle Eastrsquo;s busiest port and two others in the United Arab Emirates, openly threatening a neighboring countryrsquo;s non-U.S. assets for the first time as itsnbsp;war with the U.S. and Israelnbsp;entered a thi rd week.Tehran said the U.S. had used ldquo;ports, docks and hideoutsrdquo; in the UAE to launch strikes onnbsp;Kharg Island, home to the main terminal handling Iranrsquo;s oil exports, without providing evidence. It urged people to leave areas where it said U.S. forces were sheltering.Hours later, there was no sign of an attack on Dubairsquo;s Jebel Ali port mdash; the Mideastrsquo;s busiest mdash; or the Khalifa port in Abu Dhabi. But debris from an interceptednbsp;Iranian drone hitting an oil facilitynbsp;sparked a fire at the third port, in Fujairah.Iran says the US attacked from close to DubaiIranrsquo;s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, told MS NOW that the U.S. attacked Kharg Island and Abu Musa Island from two locations in the UAE, Ras Al-Khaimah and a place ldquo;very close to Dubai,rdquo; calling that dangerous and saying Iran ldquo;will try to be careful not to attack any populated areardquo; there.U.S. Central Command said it had no response to Iranrsquo;s claim. A diplomatic adviser to the UAErsquo;s president, Anwar Gargash, said on social media the country has the right to defend itself but ldquo;still prioritizes reason and logic, and continues exercising restraint.rdquo;Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Arab Gulf neighbors duringnbsp;the war, but it has said it was targeting U.S. assets, even as hits or attempts were reported on civilian ones such as airports and oil fields.On Friday,nbsp;U.S. President Donald Trumpnbsp;said the U.S. ldquo;obliteratedrdquo; military sites on Kharg Island and that oil infrastructure could be next if Tehran continues to interfere withnbsp;shipsrsquo; passage through the Strait of Hormuz, where one-fifth of global oil supplies usually transit.Iranrsquo;s parliamentary speaker has said strikes against the countryrsquo;s oil infrastructure would provoke a new level of retaliation.Araghchi told MS NOW that the strait was closed only to ldquo;those who are attacking us and their allies.rdquo;As global anxiety soars overnbsp;oil prices and supplies, Trump said Saturday that he hopes China, France, Japan, South Korea, the U.K. and others send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz ldquo;open and safe.rdquo; Britain in response said it was discussing with allies a ldquo;range of optionsrdquo; to secure shipping.Araghchi, in a social media post, urged neighbors to ldquo;expel foreign aggressorsrdquo; and described Trumprsquo;s call as ldquo;begging.rdquo;Iran repeats threat against US-linked oil assetsOn Saturday, Iranrsquo;s joint military command reiterated its threat to attack U.S.-linked ldquo;oil, economic and energy infrastructuresrdquo; in the region if the Islamic Republicrsquo;s oil infrastructure is hit.Iranrsquo;s semiofficial Fars news agency said the Kharg Island strikes caused no damage to oil infrastructure. It said they targeted an air defense facility, a naval base, the airport control tower and an offshore oil companyrsquo;s helicopter hangar.U.S. Central Command said it destroyed naval mine storage facilities, missile storage bunkers and other military sites.Israel earlier announced another wave of strikes in Iran targeting infrastructure, and said its air force had hit more than 200 targets in the last 24 hours, including missile launchers, defense systems and weapons production sites.Another attack on the US Embassy in BaghdadA missile struck a helipad inside the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad on Saturday. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. The embassy complex, one of the largest U.S. diplomatic facilities in the world, has been repeatedly targeted by rockets and drones fired by Iran-aligned militias.The State Department again warned citizens in Iraq to leave ldquo;now,rdquo; and by land since commercial flights were not available. It noted that Iran and Iran-aligned militia groups ldquo;may continue to targetrdquo; U.S. citizens, interests and infrastructure.Meanwhile, Lebanonrsquo;s humanitarian crisis deepened, with over 800 people killednbsp;and 850,000 displacednbsp;as Israel launched waves of strikes against Iran-backed Hezbollah militants.Marines and an assault ship will add to US forcesA U.S. official said Friday that 2,500 more Marines with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit and the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli were being sent to the Middle East, adding to the militaryrsquo;s largest buildup ofnbsp;warships and aircraftnbsp;in the region in decades. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military plans.Marine Expeditionary Units can conduct amphibious landings but also specialize in bolstering security at embassies, evacuating civilians and providing disaster relief. The deployment doesnrsquo;t necessarily indicate that a ground operation will take place. The Wall Street Journal first reported the Marine deployment.The Tripoli was spotted by commercial satellites sailing near Taiwan, putting it more than a week away from waters off Iran.Earlier in the week, the Navy had 12 ships, including the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and eight destroyers, in the Arabian Sea. The total number of U.S. service members on the ground in the Middle East isnrsquo;t clear.Permalink| Comments ...read more read less