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Critical infrastructure across the Gulf came under attack from Iran on Sunday, with damage reported at civilian facilities in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait.

Gulf countries have faced repeated drone and missile salvos from Iran in response to US and Israeli strikes on the Islamic republic that began at the end of February.

Iran has targeted energy and other industrial infrastructure in the oil-rich Gulf nations, accusing its neighbours of allowing US forces to carry out attacks from their territory.

The Gulf states have vehemently denied the accusations.

Attacks by Iranian drones on Sunday resulted in "severe" damage to Kuwaiti oil and petrochemical facilities, the state petroleum company said.

The Kuwait Petroleum Corporation said a number of facilities of its subsidiary Petrochemical Industries Company were targeted in the attack which "resulted in the outbreak of fires at several of these facilities and caused severe material damage".

Earlier, Kuwait's electricity and water ministry said two power and water desalination plants were damaged by a drone attack from Iran, causing "significant material damage and the shutdown of two electricity generating units".

In Kuwait City, the finance ministry said an Iranian drone attack caused "extensive" damage to a government building, but "no human casualties were recorded".

The war has spread across the Middle East, and Iran's attacks on Gulf energy infrastructure as well as its effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping lane, have convulsed the global economy.

The UAE's official news agency reported authorities were dealing with an incident after Khor Fakkan port in the Gulf of Oman was targeted.

Secure Navigation

British maritime security agency UKMTO said "splashes from unknown projectiles" had been reported close to one container ship while it was loading in the key port near the strait.

Earlier, authorities in Abu Dhabi said they were battling multiple fires at a petrochemical plant in Ruwais Industrial City on the UAE's northwest coast after debris fell there following interceptions.

Iran has repeatedly threatened civilian infrastructure in the Gulf countries as US-Israeli attacks on Iran have also hit targets that are key to its economy.

On Saturday, a strike on a petrochemical hub in southwest Iran killed five people, the deputy governor of Khuzestan province said.

In comments released to the media on Sunday, UAE presidential advisor Anwar Gargash said Abu Dhabi was ready to "join any American-led effort, international effort to secure navigation in the Strait of Hormuz".

Gaps have appeared between the Gulf states in their differing approaches to Iran since the war broke out, with the United Arab Emirates taking a more hawkish stance.

Gargash said the UAE, which with Bahrain normalised diplomatic relations with Israel in 2020, took the view that Iran's strategy in the region would "concretise the American role".

"We will also see Israeli influence become more prominent in the Gulf, not less," Gargash added.

In Bahrain on Sunday, the state energy company said an Iranian drone attack sparked a fire at a storage tank that was later extinguished.

"Bapco Energies confirms an incident occurred at one of its storage facilities earlier today resulting in a tank fire, as a result of a hostile Iranian drone attack," the company said, without specifying the location of the blaze.