One dead as Iran launches waves of strikes on wealthy Gulf
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Smoke rising from the direction of a US naval base in Manama, Bahrain, on Feb 28, after a reported missile attack on the service centre of the US Fifth Fleet.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- Iran launched widespread reprisal missile and drone attacks across Gulf cities on Feb 28, following US and Israeli strikes, hitting civilian targets and US bases.
- Attacks killed one civilian in Abu Dhabi, wounded four in Dubai, and caused damage. UAE and Saudi Arabia condemned the "unjustified aggression," warning of response.
- The unprecedented barrages on US-allied Gulf nations, despite their neutrality pledges, significantly heightened fears of a wider, destabilising regional conflict.
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ABU DHABI - Explosions rocked major cities across the wealthy Gulf on Feb 28 as Iran launched waves of reprisal attacks after US and Israeli strikes,
Smoke and flames rose from Dubai’s luxury Palm development
Missiles streaked across the sky around the Gulf, many of them intercepted. But smoke poured from US bases in Abu Dhabi and Manama, home of the American navy’s Fifth Fleet, witnesses saw.
Falling debris killed a Pakistani civilian in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates capital, authorities said.
Dozens of loud, window-rattling bangs echoed over Gulf cities throughout the day, the second Saturday of the holy month of Ramadan.
Smoke from a reported rocket interception is seen over the sky in Abu Dhabi on Feb 28.
PHOTO: AFP
“The sound of the first explosion terrified me,” said a 50-year-old retiree living near the US base in Manama’s Juffair area, where residents were quickly evacuated.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia both warned they retained the right to respond to the attacks, which Riyadh called “unjustified aggression”.
The oil-and-gas rich Arab monarchies, lying just across the Gulf from Iran, are long-term American allies and host a clutch of US military bases.
However, they also maintain ties with Tehran. The UAE and Saudi Arabia were attacked despite pledging not to let US forces use their territory for operations against Iran.
Conflict is unusual in the Gulf, which has traded on its reputation for stability to become the Middle East’s commercial and diplomatic hub.
Puff of smoke
The unprecedented barrage heavily targeted Qatar, host of the region’s biggest US military base, as well as Riyadh, eastern Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
The UAE, Qatar and Kuwait all announced that their airspace was closed.
Military activity was visible around the Gulf. An AFP journalist in Qatar saw one missile destroyed in a puff of white smoke, while another in Dubai saw a volley of Patriot interceptors taking off.
Four people were wounded in the incident on the Palm, Dubai’s media office said, while loud explosions were heard in the city – home of the world’s tallest building – throughout the day and evening.
Doha also shook under several volleys of missiles. Qatar’s defence ministry said it had “repelled a number of attacks”, while authorities said they were suspending maritime transport.
Al Udeid base in Qatar houses CENTCOM, the region’s American military command, as well as its air and special operations forces.
Smoke rising from an area in the direction of Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar on Feb 28. Al Udeid houses the Qatar Emiri Air Force and foreign forces, including the US.
PHOTO: AFP
Iran fired missiles at Al Udeid in June 2025 after US strikes targeted Iranian nuclear facilities
‘Blatant attack’
The UAE condemned the attacks as a “dangerous escalation” and said it intercepted several missiles.
“The United Arab Emirates was subjected today to a blatant attack by Iranian ballistic missiles,” the UAE defence ministry said, adding its “air defences responded with high efficiency”.
Abu Dhabi also hosts US forces at the Al Dhafra base, where two witnesses told AFP they saw smoke rising from the facility.
In Kuwait, an Iranian missile attack caused “significant damage” to the runway at an air base hosting Italian air force personnel, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani was quoted by the ANSA news agency as saying.
A drone also struck Kuwait’s international airport on Feb 28, the civil aviation authority said, causing minor injuries to several employees.
Saudi Arabia confirmed that Iran targeted the capital Riyadh and its eastern region with strikes.
“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,” a Saudi foreign ministry statement said.
For many residents in the Gulf, which has drawn a cosmopolitan, largely expat population, the reaction was one of shock.
“I heard the explosions, I don’t know what I felt,” a Lebanese woman 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.” AFP
