Fresh explosions in Dubai and Doha as Israel launches 'wide-scale' strikes on Tehran

LAST UPDATE | 14 hrs ago

RESIDENTS OF DUBAI and Doha, Qatar, woke to the sound of explosions this morning as air defences worked to intercept new waves of incoming Iranian fire, and Israel launched new strikes on Iran and Lebanon, as the war in the Middle East showed no signs of abating.

Dubai, a major transit hub for international travel, briefly shut its airspace around the city.

A potential major blow was struck to the Iranian government with the claim that high-ranking national security chief Ali Larijani was killed in a night-time strike.

Israeli’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said Larijani was “eliminated” in a night-time strike.

The 68 year old was last seen at a public rally last week. His death has not been confirmed by Iran, which is still reeling from the 28 February strike that killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Israel also said it had killed Gholamreza Soleimani, head of the Revolutionary Guards’ Basij paramilitary force, in a “precise strike”. It said it had also targeted Akram al-Ajouri, head of the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, though he was not confirmed dead.

Loud explosions shook Iran’s capital during a night of bombing, an AFP journalist said.

The Israeli military said early today it had begun a “wide-scale wave of strikes” across Iran’s capital and was also stepping up strikes on Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.

Israel also reported two incoming salvos before dawn from Iran at Tel Aviv and elsewhere, and said Hezbollah targeted Israel’s north.

Irish MEP in Lebanon

Dublin MEP Barry Andrews is part of an EU delegation in Lebanon this week to view humanitarian operations in Beirut.

Andrews said south Beirut “cannot become another Gaza” as he called for all sides to stop fighting.

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“One in five Lebanese forced to flee their homes. Hundreds already killed,” the Fianna Fáil MEP said.

“Israel must stop the illegal invasion. Hezbollah must stop the firing of rockets.”

Iran maintains control of Strait

Iran kept up the pressure on the energy infrastructure of its Gulf Arab neighbours, hitting an oil facility in Fujairah, located on the east coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), with the Gulf of Oman that has been repeatedly targeted. State-run WAM news reported that no one had been injured in the blast from the drone strike.

Iran’s attacks on Gulf nations and its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil is transported, have given rise to increasing concerns of a global energy crisis.

Early today, it hit a tanker anchored off the coast of Fujairah, one of about 20 vessels hit since Israel and the United States started the war with an attack on Iran on February 28.

With Washington under increasing pressure over rising oil prices, Brent crude, the international standard, remained over 100 dollars a barrel, up more than 40% since the war started.

US President Donald Trump said he had demanded that roughly a half-dozen countries send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open.

But his appeals brought no immediate commitments, with many saying they are hesitant to get involved in a war with no defined exit plan and sceptical that they could do more than the US Navy.

The UAE shut down its airspace early today as its military reported it was “responding to missile and drone threats from Iran”.

The closure was soon lifted, and not long after, the sounds of explosions could be heard as the military worked to intercept incoming fire.

The snap announcement on its airspace showed the balancing act Emirati authorities face in trying to keep their long-haul carriers, Emirates and Etihad, flying as Iranian attacks continue to target the country.

Saudi Arabia’s Defence Ministry reported intercepting a dozen drones this morning over the country’s vast Eastern Province, home to oil infrastructure.

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In Qatar, the sounds of explosions boomed over the capital early in the day as defences worked to intercept incoming fire. Qatar’s Defence Ministry said later that it had successfully thwarted a missile attack on the city, though a fire broke out in an industrial area from a downed projectile.

Attacks from Iran-linked proxy forces continued in Iraq, as the US Embassy in Baghdad was hit with shrapnel from drones that had been intercepted.

The embassy’s air defences were able to shoot down all four drones targeting the facility, according to two Iraqi security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters.

A separate strike targeted a house in the heavily fortified Presidential Compound in Baghdad’s al-Jadriya area, the officials said.

It was not clear who carried out either attack, but Iran-allied militias have regularly been attacking American targets inside Iraq since the conflict began.

Attack near Beirut airport

The Israeli military launched an air strike near Beirut’s airport, in the city’s southern suburbs, according to state media, while Lebanon’s military an Israeli strike on a car and a motorcycle in southern Lebanon killed one of its soldiers and wounded four others.

The Lebanese civil aviation authority said the airport continued to operate normally.

Earlier, Lebanese state media said Israeli strikes hit three Beirut neighbourhoods, including a residential apartment building.

One killed in Abu Dhabi

Falling debris from a missile intercept killed one person in the Emirati capital of Abu Dhabi and injured two medical staff in Kuwait, authorities said.

Qatar said it had intercepted a missile attack after an AFP journalist reported hearing several explosions in Doha.

In Dubai, an AFP journalist heard three explosions after authorities warned residents of United Arab Emirates’ most populous city to “immediately seek a safe place” over “potential missile threats”.

British Airways said it has cancelled flights to and from Middle East destinations Amman, Bahrain, Dubai, and Tel Aviv through May 31 as the war disrupts the global aviation industry.