- Residents reported fresh explosions in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, and Manama today
- Sirens sounded and blasts were heard in multiple Gulf cities amid ongoing missile fire
- Iran claimed an oil tanker struck near the Strait of Hormuz is now sinking
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. Visuals showed a hotel struck by an Iranian strike. They could not be verified independently.
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 NDTV 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.
UK On Ballistic Missiles
Iran's wave after wave of counterattacks followed the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei in US-Israel strikes. The attacks appeared to have expanded, with Britain's defence secretary today confirming Iran fired "two ballistic missiles in the direction of Cyprus", but which were likely not targeting the Mediterranean island.
"We had two ballistic missiles fired in the direction of Cyprus," John Healey told the BBC, noting UK warplanes were involved in "defensive" actions in the region, operating from the UK's airbase on the island and from a base in Qatar.
"Now we are pretty sure they weren't targeted at Cyprus, but nevertheless it demonstrates how our bases, our personnel, military and civilians at the moment are at risk," he said, without providing further details about the missiles and any interception of them.
Attacks And Counterattacks
Today's fresh attacks began after Iran's Revolutionary Guards and President Masoud Pezeshkian declared Khamenei's killing a "declaration of war against Muslims" and warned: "Iran considers it its legitimate duty and right to avenge the perpetrators and masterminds of this historic crime."
Israel described Khamenei's death as a "first step", and military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani boasted that the joint operation "eliminated 40 senior commanders, including Khamenei, in one minute in two different locations over a thousand miles from Israel in broad daylight".
In a social media post that adopted US President Donald Trump's style and rhetoric, Ali Larijani, the powerful head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, declared: "Today we will hit them with a force that they have never experienced before."
International reactions to conflict have been mixed, with Pope Leo XIV urging both sides to end "the spiral of violence", while China condemned Khamenei's killing as a "serious violation of Iran's sovereignty".
France, on the other hand, expressed satisfaction at the death of "a bloodthirsty dictator who oppressed his people, degraded women, young people and minorities".
