Middle East War Day 16: UAE and other Gulf countries report fresh attacks; Kuwait airport hit
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Loud explosions were heard in parts of Dubai on Sunday while Iran claimed it launched attacks at the UAE’s al-Dhafra airbase. Meanwhile, several drones struck Kuwait International Airport and damaged its radar system, though authorities said no one was injured, according to AFP.Al Jazeera reported that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it fired 10 missiles and an unspecified number of drones at US forces stationed at Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates.
Earlier, the UAE ministry of defence also said its air defence systems were “responding to incoming missile and drone threats from Iran.” The ministry said the loud sounds heard across parts of the country were caused by interceptions carried out by air defence systems.The developments came a day after Iran warned that “ports, docks and American hideouts” in the United Arab Emirates could be targeted and urged residents to evacuate those areas.Tehran justified the attack, claiming that the United States had used ports, docks, and hideouts in the UAE to launch strikes on Kharg Island, which hosts the main terminal handling Iran’s oil exports. According to AFP, Iran has fired more than 1,800 missiles and drones at the Emirates during the conflict, making it the country most heavily targeted by Tehran in the ongoing escalation.The attacks have raised concerns about security across the Gulf, which, for decades, has been seen as relatively stable in a volatile Middle East. Several Middle Eastern countries have been directly hit in the US-Israel-Iran war that began on February 28, with the US and Israel attacking Iran and killing its supreme leader. In recent days, Lebanon saw Israeli strikes on Hezbollah areas, Qatar reported blasts in Doha near US infrastructure, and Saudi Arabia’s largest refinery was set ablaze by drones.
