Kuwait Airport Targeted, Saudi Intercepts Drones As Iran Continues Attacks

New Delhi, March 8: Fuel tanks at the Kuwait airport were targeted while 15 drones were intercepted and destroyed in Saudi Arabia as Iran continued attacks a day after its President Masoud Pezkeshian said Tehran will not attack neighbouring countries.

Qatar’s defence ministry said the country was targeted a day earlier by 10 ballistic missiles and two cruise missiles fired from Iran, but most of them were intercepted and caused no casualties.

Kuwait’s national oil company announced a “precautionary” cut to its crude production as the country’s military responded “to a wave of hostile drones that penetrated the country’s airspace”. It called the drone attack “a direct targeting of vital infrastructure”. A separate statement said “some civilian facilities sustained material damage as a result of falling fragments and debris from interception operations”.

Among the areas in Saudi Arabia where the attacks were attemped was the diplomatic quarter in the capital Riyadh.

New attacks were also reported in Qatar, while debris from an interception fell on a vehicle and killed a Pakistan driver in Dubai. UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan said in a rare televised address that the Emirates were in “a period of war” and “will emerge stronger” from it.

Pezkeshian had said on Saturday that Iran would not attack neighbouring countries, while adding that it would not surrender. Hours later,  Iran’s judiciary chief said strikes would continue on sites in Gulf countries which were “at the disposal of the enemy”.

Dubai, UAE

Dubai international airport, the second busiest in the world, was briefly closed as explosions were reported across the megapolis. Passengers were rushed into train tunnels, even as a witness told AFP of a loud explosion in the area followed by a cloud of smoke. The Dubai media office admitted that a minor incident had occurred after debris fell following an interception.

The UAE’s defence ministry said 221 ballistic missiles were detected since the war began on February 28, with the number of drones surpassing 1,300. Apart from the Dubai airport, Abu Dhabi airport, Palm Jumeirah development, Burj Al Arab and the US consulate in Dubai have been hit.

Saudi Arabia

The defence ministry said it had destroyed three ballistic missiles heading towards Prince Sultan Air Base, which hosts American troops, as well as 17 drones over the Shaybah oil field in the southeast.

Bahrain

Bahrain said it has intercepted 92 missiles and 151 drones since the start of the “brutal Iranian aggression”, with its capital Manama reporting intermittent explosions daily.

Lebanon

Four people were killed and 10 injured in a strike on an hotel in Beirut. Eight people were also killed in strikes on more than 20 Lebanese towns and villages, the health ministry reported.

The Israeli military said it carried out a “precise strike” in Beirut targeting commanders from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards operating in Lebanon.

Qatar

Qatar’s defense ministry said Iran had fired a dozen missiles at the country, adding that six ballistic missiles and two cruise missiles were intercepted. Two ballistic missiles fell in the country’s territorial waters and two landed in an “uninhabited area”.