Why Fujairah oil zone is targeted: Strategic importance of UAE's only eastern oil terminal

Three Indian nationals were injured in a drone attack on the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone (FOIZ) on Monday, May 4.

Authorities confirmed that Iranian-launched unmanned aerial vehicles attacked the strategic energy hub.

The Fujairah Media Office stated that all three men had suffered only moderate injuries and were rushed to the hospital. The civil defence forces have been deployed right away and are presently trying to bring the fire under control.

The Fujairah Oil Industry Zone and its associated port facilities are located on the eastern seaboard of the UAE along the Gulf of Oman, giving it a strategic advantage of being at 70 nautical miles (around 130km) outside the Strait of Hormuz. This enables it to act as a strategic bypass point for oil exports.

This marks the first incident since the Pakistan-mediated ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran took effect on April 8.

This truce had ended a period of more than two months during which fierce battles took place in the Gulf region.

Following the attack by the drones, the UAE Defence Ministry reported that its military had spotted four cruise missiles fired at the country from Iran. The air defence systems managed to intercept three missiles, and one missile that missed its target fell into the sea.

A message was sent through mobile phones informing citizens of Dubai and Abu Dhabi about possible missile threats.

This is not the first time Fujairah's energy sector has been hit. Earlier, a drone attacked the site on March 14.