Iran is to start bunkering operations on Qeshm island in February in a bid to rival the UAE's Fujairah as a supply hub.

Container line IRISL's managing director Mohammad Saeedi told the Tasnim news agency that the 52,000-tonne capacity terminal will give Iran access to traffic on one of the world's biggest shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian ships will not call at Fujairah after it is operational.