ISTANBUL 

Iraq on Saturday ordered heightened combat readiness to secure its territorial waters and protect oil and commercial ports.

The Iraqi Navy said in a statement that its commander, Mazen Abdul Wahid Kabyan, conducted an inspection tour that included the Grand Faw Port in southern Iraq and the port’s protection force.

Kabyan also reviewed the two oil tankers that were attacked earlier this week at the breakwater facility linked to the port and in the Khor Abdullah channel in Basra province.

On Wednesday, Iraqi media reported that two foreign oil tankers were targeted in Iraq’s territorial waters near the Port of Basra, causing fires on both vessels.

Kabyan ordered an increase in combat readiness to secure Iraq’s territorial waters and protect oil and commercial ports, describing them as “the artery of the Iraqi economy,” according to the Iraqi News Agency.

Regional tensions have flared since Israel and the US launched joint attacks on Iran on Feb. 28, killing more than 1,200 people, including then-Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iran has retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel, along with Jordan, Iraq, and Gulf countries, which it says are targeting “US military assets.”

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul