Dubai, Mar 1: Residents have reported hearing fresh explosions in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, and Manama today, as Iran continues to fire missiles at countries in the Middle East where US troops are stationed.

News agency AFP reported that its correspondents also heard several blasts in Dubai, with Abu Dhabi residents reporting loud bangs.

Sirens sounded in Manama, where correspondents heard an explosion, while in the Qatari capital a journalist heard a blast faintly.

The reports of explosions continue to stream in for a second day, since the US and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran over its nuclear programme.

A Dubai resident told a TV channel on phone that he heard some explosions in the distance, but could not confirm whether those were Iranian strikes.

“We have been hearing explosions every few hours,” said R Choudhary, a communications professional from India living in Dubai.

Iran today also claimed that an oil tanker was sinking after it was struck while attempting to pass through the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

“The fate of the offending oil tanker that was struck while attempting to illegally pass through the Strait of Hormuz is that it is now sinking,” Iran’s state TV reported, without elaborating.

It carried footage showing heavy black smoke emanating from the burning tanker at sea. The strait carries a quarter of the world’s seaborne oil and a fifth of all liquified natural gas.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards yesterday warned that the vital waterway was unsafe due to US and Israeli attacks and was therefore closed to ships.