1 killed in UAE as Iran targets 6 Arab countries with missiles; Riyadh slams ‘brutal Iranian aggression’

Projectiles fired at Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan in addition to Israel; US Navy in Bahrain targeted; house in Jordan’s Amman hit; Doha says it intercepted all projectiles

One person was killed Saturday in the United Arab Emirates as Iran targeted six Arab countries in addition to Israel in response to strikes launched by Israel and the US.

Israel and the US launched major joint strikes on Iran on Saturday, with waves of attacks on sites across the Islamic Republic as US President Donald Trump suggested that the eventual aim of the operation was the overthrow of the regime.

Strikes targeted Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian, an Israeli official said. Other top regime and military commanders were also targeted, according to the official. The results of the strikes were not yet clear.

In response, Iran launched multiple waves of missiles at Israel as well as at Arab countries in the region — some of them hosting US military facilities — with at least one person killed in Abu Dhabi.

Given their reputation for calm, Saturday’s sudden attacks on US military bases caused widespread shock among the Gulf’s diverse, expat-heavy populations.

The strikes on the Gulf states led to panic in the glitzy, generally peaceful cities of Doha, Manama and Abu Dhabi, as stunned tourists and residents watched interceptor missiles fly overhead, with many deciding to flee the cities.

United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates Defense Ministry said “a worker of Asian nationality” was killed in a missile strike in a residential area of the capital Abu Dhabi, where falling shrapnel also damaged some homes.

Abu Dhabi said it “reserves its full right to respond” and slammed the attacks as “a dangerous escalation.”

In Dubai, the Middle East’s commercial hub with the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, residents looked up to see missiles surge through the sky.

“It was a rumble and then a bang,” one resident told AFP, asking not to be named.

Jordan

An Iranian missile fell on a home in Jordan’s capital, Amman, state media reported.

Footage published by Arabic media showed flames and smoke rising from the wreckage.

Jordan’s armed forces said it shot down two ballistic missiles targeting the kingdom’s territory.

“They were successfully intercepted by Jordanian air defense systems,” a military official said.

It was unclear if the strike in Amman was a direct hit or the result of an interception.

Bahrain

A center for the US Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain was hit in a “missile attack,” Bahrain said Saturday, as Iran vowed retaliation following US and Israeli strikes.

“The Fifth Fleet’s service centre was subjected to a missile attack. We will provide you with details later,” Bahrain’s National Communication Centre said in a statement.

“When we heard the sounds, we cried out of fear,” said Jana Hassan, a 15-year-old school student, who was visiting a friend in the area. “We didn’t know what to do… I will never forget the sound of those loud blasts.”

Qatar

Qatar’s defense ministry said it successfully shot down all the missiles Iran fired at the Gulf state before they entered its airspace.

“We possess the full ability to protect the country and fend off any external threat,” the Qatari ministry said, adding that the situation in Qatar was “secure and stable.”

Several explosions were heard across Doha as Qatar’s defense ministry said it had intercepted several missile attacks targeting the Gulf state.

Blasts were heard over central Doha and near the Al-Udeid military base, the largest US military facility in the region.

Qatar’s aviation authority announced a temporary closure of the country’s airspace.

An American resident of Doha, who also asked not to be identified, heard two blasts as she was driving home, where she “heard several more and the glass was shaking.”

She said she was “furious” about the instability, after 20 years of living in Qatar. Her teenage sons, she said, are “asking me if we will have to go back home”.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia condemned the Iranian attacks targeting its neighbors in a statement released by the kingdom’s official press agency.

“The kingdom strongly condemns and denounces in the strongest terms the brutal Iranian aggression and the blatant violation of the sovereignty of the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Bahrain, the State of Qatar, the State of Kuwait, and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,” said the statement.

After initially not commenting on reports that Saudi Arabia itself was targeted, the Saudi foreign ministry later confirmed that Riyadh was targeted in an Iranian missile strike, which it said it successfully intercepted.

The attack was unjustified and came despite “Iranian authorities’ knowledge of the kingdom’s confirmation that it won’t let its airspace or territory be used for an attack on Iran,” the ministry said.

“In light of this unjustified aggression, the Kingdom affirms that it will take all necessary measures to defend its security and protect its territory, citizens and residents, including with the option of responding to the aggression,” it said.

“As a Lebanese, I am traumatized,” a 31-year-old expat and mother of two living in Riyadh told AFP.

“We came to the Gulf because it’s known to be safer than Lebanon. Now I don’t know what to do or how to think, really,” added the woman, who did not want to be named.

Another Riyadh resident, from Jordan, said: “It was honestly very scary and very loud.”

“I was just walking out with my little boy when we suddenly heard the blast. People around us were looking up at the sky, trying to understand what was happening,” they said. “It’s not something you expect in Riyadh.”

Kuwait

Kuwait also engaged in incoming strikes.

Kuwait’s Chief of Staff said in a statement that “air defense systems engaged incoming missiles detected in the airspace.”