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, an Iranian official told Reuters.
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, including Reuters correspondents, heard loud booms in various parts of the UAE capital Abu Dhabi, a major oil producer and close US ally.
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.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said 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.
The ministry strongly condemned the attack, calling it a “dangerous escalation” and a “cowardly act” that threatens civilian safety and regional stability. It said the strike was a clear violation of the UAE’s sovereignty and international law.
The UAE reserved “its full right to respond” and to take all necessary measures to protect its territory, people and national interests. It added that it was fully prepared to deal with any threats and that the safety of citizens, residents and visitors remained a top priority.
The ministry urged the public to rely on official sources for information and avoid spreading rumours.
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 exports about 90% of its crude oil via Kharg, shipping it through the narrow Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian media reported explosions in Isfahan, Qom, Karaj and Kermanshah. Blasts were also heard in the northwestern city of Tabriz, according to Fars news agency.
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.”
Netanyahu says there are signs Khamenei ‘is no longer’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested on Saturday that Israel and the United States had killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and called on Iranians to “take to the streets and finish the job.”
There were many signs indicating Khamenei “is no longer”, Netanyahu said without explicitly confirming his death.
He said Khamenei’s compound had been destroyed, and Revolutionary Guard commanders and senior nuclear officials had ben destroyed.
However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is still alive “as far as I know,” in an interview with NBC News. “Almost all officials are safe and sound and alive. We may have lost one or two commanders, but that is not a big problem,” he said.
On Saturday morning, Israel launched what it called a “preemptive” attack against Iran under the name “Lion’s Roar,” declaring a “special and immediate” state of emergency across the country.
Trump later said his forces launched “major combat operations” in Iran aimed at “protecting the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime.”
The attacks come as talks between Washington and Tehran over Iran’s nuclear program had been ongoing under Oman’s mediation. A new round of talks in Geneva ended on Thursday.
The joint strikes pushed the Middle East into renewed military confrontatioaragn 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.