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Most of the world's attention in
this conflict has been fixed on 

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one geographical feature, the 
Strait of Hormuz. 

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But there is another location 
that matters just as much to the

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global oil system, and in some 
respects more. 

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It sits roughly 70 nautical 
miles outside the Strait on the 

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eastern coast of the United Arab
Emirates. 

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It is called Fujairah, and 
according to UAE authorities, it

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was struck in a drone attack on 
the 4th of May 2026, an attack 

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they described as originating 
from Iran. 

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To understand why that single 
strike sent immediate alarm 

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through global energy markets, 
you first need to understand 

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what Fujairah was built for. 
Because it was not simply a 

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port, it was an answer to a 
specific threat. 

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And on the 4th of May, that 
answer was itself under attack. 

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The strike broke what had been a
fragile period of relative calm.

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A ceasefire reported to have 
been brokered through regional 

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mediation and agreed between 
Washington and Tehran had taken 

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effect on the 8th of April, 
pausing more than two months of 

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intense fighting across the Gulf
region. 

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For four weeks, the UAE had 
experienced a pause and direct 

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strikes. 
During the earlier phase of the 

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conflict, the UAE Ministry of 
Defense had reported 

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intercepting and destroying 
large numbers of drones and 

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missiles. 
UAE residents in Dubai and Abu 

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Dhabi had received emergency 
phone alerts warning of incoming

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missile threats. 
The ceasefire, though shaky and 

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unresolved at its core, had at 
least paused the immediate 

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physical danger to civilian 
infrastructure. 

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Then, on the 4th of May, the 
Fujairah Media Office confirmed 

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that a fire had broken out at 
the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone 

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following what authorities 
described as a drone attack. 

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Civil defense teams were 
deployed immediately to contain 

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a blaze. 3 Indian nationals 
working at the facility 

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sustained moderate injuries and 
were taken to hospital, 

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according to the Fujairah Media 
office. 

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Separately, the UAE Ministry of 
Defense announced that its 

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forces had intercepted incoming 
missiles over UAE territorial 

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waters, with at least one 
additional projectile falling 

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into the sea. 
The UAE's Ministry of Foreign 

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Affairs condemned the strikes as
an unacceptable transgression 

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and a violation of international
law, adding that the UAE held 

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Iran fully responsible and 
reserve its right to respond. 

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Tehran's state broadcaster, 
citing a senior military source,

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said Iran had no pre plan 
operation targeting the reported

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sites, according to Al Jazeera. 
It was a denial that UAE 

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officials and much of the 
international community were not

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prepared to accept. 
To understand why this attack 

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drew immediate alarm from energy
markets, it is necessary to 

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understand what Fujairah 
actually is and what role it 

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plays in the global oil system. 
The port sits on the Gulf of 

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Oman, facing the Indian Ocean on
the eastern side of the UAE 

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peninsula. 
That geography is not 

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incidental, it is the entire 
point. 

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When Iran threatened over the 
course of decades to close the 

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Strait of Hormuz in response to 
Western pressure, the UAE 

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responded by building a way 
around it. 

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The result was the Abu Dhabi 
Crude Oil Pipeline, also known 

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as the Habshan Fujairah 
Pipeline, a 406 kilometer artery

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running from Abu Dhabi's inland 
oil fields eastward to the 

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Fujairah terminal. 
The pipeline has a capacity of 

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approximately 1 1/2 million 
barrels per day. 

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It was specifically conceived 
and built to allow the UAE to 

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export its oil without using the
straight at all. 

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The broader Fujairah Oil 
Industry Zone has grown far 

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beyond that pipeline into one of
the most important energy hubs 

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on earth. 
The port holds approximately 

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18,000,000 cubic meters of 
storage capacity, making it one 

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of the largest crude oil and 
fuel storage facilities anywhere

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in the world. 
It is ranked among the top 

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bunkering ports globally, 
reportedly trailing only 

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Singapore, Rotterdam and China's
Joshon in terms of marine fuel 

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volumes. 
In practical terms, this means 

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that a vast proportion of the 
world's commercial shipping 

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fleet refuels at Fujairah. 
Container ships, bulk carriers 

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and tankers crossing between 
Asia, the Middle East and Europe

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all depend on it as a critical 
refueling stop. 

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Before the current conflict, 
industry figures suggested 

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roughly 12,000 vessels called at
the Fujairah anchorage area each

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year. 
The Strait of Hormuz, by 

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comparison, carries an estimated
1/5 of global oil supply through

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a waterway that narrows to 
approximately 33 kilometers at 

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its tightest point. 
It is by almost any measure the 

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single most consequential 
maritime choke point in the 

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world for energy. 
During the conflict that began 

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on the 28th of February, the 
Straight had been severely 

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disrupted, with normal 
commercial shipping 

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significantly reduced. 
Major cargo firms rerouted 

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vessels. 
Insurance premiums reached multi

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year highs. 
The disruption cascaded through 

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oil markets almost immediately. 
Fujairah in that environment 

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became not merely an important 
hub, but an essential one. 

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Because transit through the 
Strait had become so dangerous 

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and costly, Fujairah represented
the primary remaining pathway 

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through which the UAE could 
continue to get its oil to 

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market. 
The Abu Dhabi Crude oil Pipeline

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allowed UAE production to flow 
east of Fujairah and from there 

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directly on to tankers bound for
Asia and beyond, entirely 

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bypassing the contested waterway
to the West. 

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The Straits disruption had 
already elevated Fujairah to 

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critical status. 
It had become the workaround. 

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And then the workaround was 
struck. 

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Is in this context that the 4th 
of May attack takes on its wider

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significance. 
Fujairah had experienced earlier

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incidents during the conflict. 
Though reporting on their 

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precise scale and sequence 
varied, each had represented a 

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temporary disruption. 
The 4th of May strike, coming 

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after nearly a month of 
ceasefire, raised the question 

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of whether targeting Fujairah 
had become a deliberate and 

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persistent element of a broader 
strategy of economic pressure. 

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Whether the strike was 
deliberate targeting of critical

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infrastructure or one part of a 
broader barrage of projectiles 

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that day cannot be stated with 
certainty. 

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Iran denied pre planning the 
attack. 

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There was, however, a separate 
notable development. 

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On the same day, Iranian media 
reported that Iran's 

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Revolutionary Guards Navy had 
issued a map suggesting an 

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expanded maritime zone of 
control near the Strait of 

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Hormuz, though the precise 
meaning and intent of that claim

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remained unclear. 
The reported map, according to 

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those accounts, encompassed the 
UAE ports of Fujairah and 

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Kerfaken, as well as the 
coastline of the Amal Queen 

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emirate. 
The significance of that claim, 

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whether symbolic or operational,
was not lost on observers. 

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Issuing A territorial assertion 
that places Fujairah within a 

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claimed zone of Iranian maritime
influence on the same day that 

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Fujairah's oil zone was struck 
invites a particular 

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interpretation. 
Analysts may read it as an 

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attempt to signal that Iran 
considers the UAE's eastern 

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coast and its energy export 
infrastructure to fall within 

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its sphere of coercive 
influence. 

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What Abu Dhabi, its Gulf 
partners and Washington made of 

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that signal would shape the days
that followed. 

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What can be assessed is the 
strategic logic that would make 

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Fujairah an attractive target 
for any actor wishing to 

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maximize economic pressure on 
both the UAE and the wider 

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global energy system. 
Simultaneously. 

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The Strait of Hormuz, already 
severely disrupted, had 

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effectively closed one major 
export pathway. 

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Fujairah represented the 
workaround. 

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Striking it repeatedly, if that 
is what the pattern reflects, 

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will mean closing both exits at 
once, not through formal 

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blockade, but through sustained 
operational disruption and an 

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insurance and security risks 
severe enough to deter normal 

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shipping activity. 
That logic, if it applies, has 

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consequences that extend well 
beyond the UAE. 

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The global commercial shipping 
fleet relies on Fujairah's 

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bunkering services to keep 
moving. 

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A port that cannot safely 
operate does not merely affect 

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UAE oil exports, it affects the 
fuel supply for vessels crossing

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between Asia, Africa and Europe.
Shipping companies recalculate 

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routes. 
Insurers reprice coverage. 

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Vessels divert to more distant 
alternatives. 

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Each of these adjustments adds 
cost, time and complexity to 

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supply chains that underpin the 
movement of almost everything 

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from consumer electronics to 
food. 

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Commodities markets reacted to 
the attacks, with oil prices 

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moving higher amid increased 
risk perception surrounding 

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Fujairah's operational status. 
The broader pattern here 

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connects to something well 
established in the study of 

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modern conflict. 
Energy infrastructure has 

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consistently been among the most
strategically valuable targets 

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precisely because it's 
disruption radiates outward. 

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In the Gulf region specifically,
every previous escalation 

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involving Iran has included some
dimension of energy 

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infrastructure pressure, whether
through threats to the Strait, 

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attacks on tankers, or, as in 
2019, drone and missile strikes 

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on Saudi Arabia's of Kayak oil 
processing facility. 

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The scale and methods of those 
earlier incidents varied. 

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The consistent thread running 
through them is this energy 

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infrastructure across the Gulf 
is not merely an economic asset,

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it is a lever. 
And those who have sought to 

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apply pressure on a region have 
repeatedly demonstrated 

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awareness of that fact. 
The scenario that concerns 

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analysts most is not a single 
dramatic strike, but accumulated

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disruption. 
A port attacked repeatedly, even

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without catastrophic damage on 
any single occasion, becomes 

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difficult to operate safely. 
Workers are placed at risk. 

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Vessels become reluctant to 
anchor insurance underwriters 

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withdraw coverage or price it 
prohibitively. 

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Operational continuity becomes 
fragile even without total 

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destruction of facilities. 
Given that Fujairah had already 

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experienced multiple incidents 
in the weeks preceding the 

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ceasefire, the 4th of May 
attack, arriving after a pause 

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that appeared to be holding, 
raised the question of whether 

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the disruption would now 
continue, deepen or broaden to 

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other infrastructure along the 
UAE East Coast. 

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What this moment illustrates 
more than any other development 

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in this conflict, is that the 
economic stakes are not simply 

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about the Strait of Hormuz. 
The Strait has received the 

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majority of global attention, 
and rightly so. 

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But Fujairah represents the 
safety valve that was built 

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precisely because everyone 
understood the straight was 

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vulnerable. 
Targeting that safety valve, if 

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the sequence of strikes reflects
A deliberate strategy, will mean

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closing both exits at once. 
The ceasefire that took effect 

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on the 8th of April had not 
resolved the fundamental 

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disputes driving this conflict. 
Iran's nuclear program and the 

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question of maritime freedom in 
the Strait of Hormuz remained 

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unresolved. 
The 4th of May strike suggested 

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the fragile pause was 
deteriorating. 

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Whether that deterioration 
continued, deepened or was 

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pulled back from would depend on
decisions being made in 

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Washington, Tehran and Abu Dhabi
in the days that followed. 

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What was already clear was this 
the global oil system had been 

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built with Fujairah as its 
eastern pressure valve. 

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That valve had now been struck 
and the world was watching to 

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see how much pressure it could 
still absorb. 

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This is Epic Fury, the US Iran 
war podcast.