Iran has targeted United States assets across the Gulf Arab states in retaliation for a massive joint attack on Iran by the US and Israel, as the region’s worst fears flare up in the flames of an ongoing war.
According to the Fars news agency, which includes US air bases in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, the Iranian government confirmed its attacks on several targets on Saturday.
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Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed to have hit all Israeli and US military targets in the Middle East with “powerful strikes from Iranian missiles”.
“This operation will continue relentlessly until the enemy is decisively defeated,” it said. It added that all US assets throughout the region are considered legitimate targets of Iran’s military.
At least one person was killed in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi after several missiles fired from Iran were intercepted, the country’s state news agency said.
Bahrain said the missile attack targeted the headquarters of the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, which it hosts.
The government called it a “treasonous attack” and a “flagrant violation of the state’s sovereignty and security”.
Al Jazeera Arabic meanwhile confirmed the sound of explosions in Kuwait, home to the US military’s Central Command headquarters.
In Qatar, the Ministry of Defense says it has “deterred” several attacks on the country.
“The Ministry of Defense will ensure that the threat is dealt with immediately upon detection in accordance with the pre-approved security plan and that all missiles are intercepted before reaching Qatari territory,” it said.
Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE have closed their airspace.
Erbil airport in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq was targeted twice on Saturday, an Al Jazeera correspondent reported. The drone attack attempted to target Erbil International Airport, but was intercepted and shot down by air defenses, he said.
Al Jazeera’s Zein Basrawi, reporting from Doha, says Oman is the only country in the Gulf Cooperation Council that Iran has not attacked so far today.
Oman has for years served as a link between Iran and other nations in the region and beyond. It played an important role in recent indirect talks between Iran and the US in Oman and Geneva.
Oman’s foreign minister expressed optimism on Friday that peace was “within reach” after Iran agreed during talks that it would never stockpile enriched uranium. Badr bin Hamad Al-Busaidi described this development as a major breakthrough. Hours later, Israel and the US attack, and those talks are now dead and buried.
The GCC is an alliance of six countries on the Arabian Peninsula: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, established in 1981 to promote economic, security, cultural and social cooperation.
“Here in Doha, in the last few hours, we heard at least a dozen explosions. Most of them sounded like Patriot defense missiles intercepting incoming Iranian missiles,” Basrawi said.
“As far as Iran is concerned, with the US and Israel firing the first shot in this latest go-round, everything is probably fair game now,” he said.
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