A drone ​caused the fire that engulfed two gas vessels at Egypt’s Mediterranean port of Damietta, the Egyptian cabinet said on Thursday, confirming ‌that the blaze which erupted a day earlier was the result of an attack rather than an accident.

No group has claimed responsibility for the incident which happened not far from the Suez Canal that has become the last safe evacuation route for Saudi oil to global markets.

Authorities were continuing their investigations and taking necessary measures to protect ​Egypt’s national security, the cabinet added.

British maritime security firm Ambrey said on Wednesday that a drone had hit a US-owned gas storage ​tanker at the port, in an initial assessment that raised concerns about a further spread of conflict across the ⁠Middle East.

Three trading sources familiar with the incident said the drone hit floating storage tanker Energos Winter, causing a fire that spread to another ​vessel, Gaslog Salem.

The Energos Winter was reportedly struck on its starboard side, causing a fire that was extinguished, British maritime risk management group Vanguard said.

Egypt’s ​petroleum ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that the fires at the port were dealt with immediately by firefighting and security teams and caused no injuries or fatalities. Petroleum Minister Karim Badawi went to the site to oversee response efforts, it said.

The drone strike occurred shortly after Iran carried out a missile attack against US forces ​in Jordan, and Washington and Saudi Arabia struck Iran-backed paramilitary groups in Iraq.

US President Donald Trump threatened to retaliate against Iran and Yemen’s Houthi ​group declared a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, apparently spreading the conflict to its widest since the US and Israel started bombing Iran in February.

The Energos Winter is a ‌floating ⁠storage and regasification unit owned by US-based firm Energos Infrastructure. Its technical, safety and commercial operations are managed by Wilhelmsen Ship Management, a Singapore-based subsidiary of Norwegian company Wilhelmsen Group.

Saudis join US strikes

In a first in the five-month war, Saudi Arabia on Wednesday publicly joined strikes alongside US forces, targeting Iran-aligned groups in eastern Iraq, in retaliation for drone attacks on Saudi oil targets ​launched from Iraq.

After the joint attacks, Saudi Arabia’s defence minister met Vice President JD Vance in Washington on Wednesday to urge the Trump administration not to escalate the conflict further, two sources told Reuters.

The war began in ‌February, when the ⁠US and Israel launched a bombing campaign in Iran that Trump said would last only a few weeks. A temporary ceasefire agreement in June collapsed amid renewed fighting over the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway that Iran says it now controls.

The latest strikes in Iraq and Egypt threatened to draw more Middle Eastern countries into the conflict after the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen declared a naval blockade last week on Saudi Arabia, threatening the alternative Red Sea route for its oil to Asia.

Attacks on ships by the Houthi militants prompted London’s marine insurance market to widen its “high risk” zone in the ​Red Sea to include more of the coast ​adjacent to Saudi Arabian ports.

Trump said he ⁠would hit Iran hard for firing missiles at U.S. forces, but that Washington was also still seeking a peace deal to end a conflict that has roiled global energy and finance markets.

Oil prices soared more than 8% on Wednesday, before easing 1% on Thursday in volatile trade, with benchmark Brent crude ​trading just below the $90 mark.

Iran controls crucial shipping waterway

Iran said on Wednesday that it struck three tankers attempting to transit through the Strait of ​Hormuz along an unauthorised route.

However, ⁠a QatarEnergy-controlled liquefied natural gas tanker exited the strait overnight, the first such vessel recorded by ship-tracking data leaving the waterway since July 11. Iran’s semi-official news agency Fars said Tehran had given its permission for the tanker to pass.

Oman has presented Iran with a plan backed by Gulf states to manage the Strait of Hormuz, including collecting voluntary fees for using it, sources told Reuters on Tuesday.

Tehran rejected the Omani proposal on ⁠Wednesday, but Iran’s ​semi-official ILNA news agency quoted the country’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei as saying that talks with Oman over the ​Strait of Hormuz were continuing.

After the war exposed gaps in Iran’s ability to protect military sites and strategic infrastructure, Tehran was expected to receive within weeks a first shipment out of up to 400 Chinese-made shoulder-fired air-defence missile launchers, three sources familiar with ​the deal told Reuters.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment, while China’s Foreign Ministry denied the report.