Kuwait Airport Targeted, Saudi Intercepts Drones As Iran Continues Attacks

Fuel tanks at the Kuwait airport were targeted while 15 drones were intercepted and destroyed in Saudi Arabia as Iran continued attacks a day after its President Masoud Pezkeshian said Tehran will not attack neighbouring countries.

Qatar's defence ministry said the country was targeted a day earlier by 10 ballistic missiles and two cruise missiles fired from Iran, but most of them were intercepted and caused no casualties.

Kuwait's national oil company announced a "precautionary" cut to its crude production as the country's military responded "to a wave of hostile drones that penetrated the country's airspace". It called the drone attack "a direct targeting of vital infrastructure". A separate statement said "some civilian facilities sustained material damage as a result of falling fragments and debris from interception operations".

Among the areas in Saudi Arabia where the attacks were attemped was the diplomatic quarter in the capital Riyadh.

New attacks were also reported in Qatar, while debris from an interception fell on a vehicle and killed a Pakistan driver in Dubai. UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan said in a rare televised address that the Emirates were in "a period of war" and "will emerge stronger" from it.

Blasts were reported in Lebanon.
Photo Credit: Reuters

Pezkeshian had said on Saturday that Iran would not attack neighbouring countries, while adding that it would not surrender. Hours later, Iran's judiciary chief said strikes would continue on sites in Gulf countries which were "at the disposal of the enemy".

Dubai, UAE

Dubai international airport, the second busiest in the world, was briefly closed as explosions were reported across the megapolis. Passengers were rushed into train tunnels, even as a witness told AFP of a loud explosion in the area followed by a cloud of smoke. The Dubai media office admitted that a minor incident had occurred after debris fell following an interception.

A Pakistani driver was killed in strikes on Sunday. This brings the number of people killed in the UAE since the war began to four, all were foreign nationals.

The UAE's defence ministry said 221 ballistic missiles were detected since the war began on February 28, with the number of drones surpassing 1,300. Apart from the Dubai airport, Abu Dhabi airport, Palm Jumeirah development, Burj Al Arab and the US consulate in Dubai have been hit.

Saudi Arabia

The defence ministry said it had destroyed three ballistic missiles heading towards Prince Sultan Air Base, which hosts American troops, as well as 17 drones over the Shaybah oil field in the southeast.

Buildings were hit in Beirut
Photo Credit: Reuters

Bahrain

Bahrain said it has intercepted 92 missiles and 151 drones since the start of the "brutal Iranian aggression", with its capital Manama reporting intermittent explosions daily.

Bahrain's Ministry of Interior said missile fragments fell onto a road in Manama, injuring one person and causing damage to several shops, prompting Civil Defense teams to secure and evacuate the affected areas. The ministry also said that Iran targeted a facility near Mina Salman, a seaport in Manama, where Civil Defense is working to control a fire that broke out following the strike.

Lebanon

Four people were killed and 10 injured in a strike on an hotel in Beirut. Eight people were also killed in strikes on more than 20 Lebanese towns and villages, the health ministry reported.

The Israeli military said it carried out a "precise strike" in Beirut targeting commanders from Iran's Revolutionary Guards operating in Lebanon.

This is the second strike targeting a hotel since the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah reignited earlier this week.

Qatar

Qatar's defense ministry said Iran had fired a dozen missiles at the country, adding that six ballistic missiles and two cruise missiles were intercepted. Two ballistic missiles fell in the country's territorial waters and two landed in an "uninhabited area".

Iran

US and Israeli strikes hit an oil depot in Tehran, Iranian state media said, the first reported attack on Iran's oil infrastructure. The depot was close to a key oil refinery but the ILNA news agency said the refinery's facilities were not damaged.

Strikes also hit a depot in northwestern Tehran, according to an AFP journalist who saw flames and smoke rising from the site.

Smoke rises above the skyline in Tehran.
Photo Credit: Reuters

Separately, Israel said it hit 16 military aircraft belonging to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps in overnight strikes on Mehrabad airport, in Tehran.

Israel's military said Saturday it had carried out around 3,400 strikes on Iran since the start of the war a week ago.

Iraq

Several drones struck three different areas in Sulaymaniyah in Iraq's northern Kurdish region, local media reported. One person was killed in one of the attacks, according to an official with one of the Kurdish Iranian dissident groups. Two drones hit a building in the Sulaymaniyah city center, an area that houses offices and commercial buildings, including a United Nations compound.

Three other drones targeted Force 70, a Peshmerga unit of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan headed by Bafel Talabani, son of former Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and a senior Kurdish political leader. One drone also fell near Sulaymaniyah International Airport. No casualties were immediately reported.

Separate drones targeted positions of the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan, killing one person, according to an official with the group, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with the press.

The attacks come a day after an attack was launched on the US Embassy in Baghdad, where a missile landed on the helicopter landing pad within the premises.

Trump On Iran School Strikes

US President Donald Trump said Washington retains significant leverage over Iran and isn't looking to negotiate with its remaining leadership. "We're not looking to settle," Trump told reporters on Air Force One. "They'd like to settle. We're not looking to settle."

Trump stopped short of confirming reports that US intelligence officials believe Russia has provided Iran with information to target US troops and assets in the Middle East.

"If you take a look at what's happened to Iran in the last week, if they're getting information, it's not helping them much," Trump said.

Asked if US was responsible for a strike on a school in southern Iran, in which most of the 165 were children, Trump said, "No, in my opinion, based on what I've seen, that was done by Iran." Trump added that Iran is "very inaccurate" with their munitions.