Tehran launches retaliatory strikes on regional bases

Israel, US carry out attacks on Iran

TEHRAN:  Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Saturday that a first wave of retaliatory missile and drone attacks had been launched against Israel, warning that all US bases and interests in the region were within Iran’s reach.

Explosions were reported in Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar.

Bahrain said the service centre of the US Fifth Fleet had been subjected to a missile attack. Video footage from witnesses in Bahrain showed a thick grey plume of smoke rising from near the small island state’s coastline as sirens wailed.

At least half a dozen witnesses heard loud booms in various parts of the UAE capital Abu Dhabi, a major oil producer and close US ally.

One witness told Reuters she heard five booms in rapid succession that caused windows in a house near Abu Dhabi’s Corniche to vibrate. Other witnesses in the Al Dhafra and Bateen areas also reported loud explosions.

Qatar said it had downed all missiles targeting the country, according to the state news agency. A Qatari official told AFP that defence systems intercepted an Iranian missile as warning sirens sounded across the Gulf state.

Qatar’s US-made Patriot interceptors downed the missile. Qatar hosts the Al-Udeid military base, the largest U.S. military facility in the region.

The UAE said one person was killed by falling shrapnel following the Iranian missile attack.

The United Arab Emirates said it was targeted on Saturday by what it described as a “blatant attack” involving Iranian ballistic missiles, adding that its air defence systems intercepted a number of them.

The Defence Ministry said debris fell in a residential area of Abu Dhabi, causing material damage and killing one person of Asian nationality.

Authorities said the security situation was under control and that all relevant agencies were monitoring developments around the clock.

Saudi Arabia also strongly condemned what it called Iranian aggression and a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan.

In Israel, a series of explosions was heard and air raid sirens sounded over Jerusalem after Israel and the United States launched a joint attack on Iran earlier in the day. The Israeli military had said it identified a barrage of missiles launched from Iran.

Explosions were also heard near Iran’s Kharg Island.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former US president Donald Trump of waging an unjustified confrontation against Tehran, warning that Iran’s armed forces were ready to respond.

In a statement posted on social media platform X, Araghchi said: “Netanyahu and Trump’s war on Iran is wholly unprovoked, illegal, and illegitimate.”

The joint strikes by Israel and the United States earlier on Saturday pushed the Middle East into renewed military confrontation and further dimmed hopes for a diplomatic solution to the West’s long-standing effort to denuclearise Iran, despite Tehran’s repeated assertions that it will not pursue nuclear weapons.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei is not in Tehran and has been transferred to a secure location.

US strikes are being launched by air and sea. A US official claims that the strikes are “only on military targets”.

Previously, an Iranian official said that Tehran is preparing for retaliation, “The response will be crushing.”

Explosions were heard in Tehran on Saturday, Iranian media reported, and sirens sounded across Israel around 08:15 local time in what the military said was a “proactive alert” to prepare the public for the possibility of an incoming missile strike. Monitoring Desk