Iraq shuts oil terminals after deadly strike hits Basra port

By AP 12 March 2026, 4:24 am

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An attack on Iraq’s Basra port early Thursday has killed at least one person and forced authorities to halt operations at all the country’s oil terminals, officials say.

Farhan al-Fartousi, the director-general of the General Company for Ports of Iraq, makes the announcement in a statement carried by the state-run Iraqi News Agency. Al-Fartousi says the attack targeted a ship engaged in a ship-to-ship transfer of oil in the Basra port on the Persian Gulf. He says it remained unclear if the ship was targeted by a flying or seaborne drone or a missile.

Rescuers recovered one dead body and helped 38 others after the attack. He says commercial ports in Iraq remained open, though the oil terminals have been shut.