The UAE on Sunday announced it would close its embassy in Tehran and recall its ambassador following Iran’s retaliatory missile and drone attacks in the Gulf, which killed four people and injured many others, AFP reported.
This represents the strongest response so far from a Gulf state since Iran began launching a wave of strikes across the region in retaliation for the U.S. and Israeli air campaign that killed Iran’s supreme leader and other senior officials, the report stated.
See the statement here
“These hostile attacks against civilian sites, including residential areas, airports, ports, and service facilities, endangered innocent civilians in a serious and irresponsible escalation,” the UAE foreign ministry said in a statement.
The UAE fully reopened its embassy and sent a new ambassador to Tehran in 2022 during a thaw in relations between the Emirates and the Islamic republic. Saudi Arabia later followed suit.
Iran’s continued and unprecedented Gulf bombardment has raised fears of a wider conflict and rattled a region long seen as a haven of peace and security in the turbulent Middle East.
Powerful blasts heard in Dubai, Doha, Manama on second day
For a second consecutive day, AFP reporters heard repeated, loud explosions in Dubai, Doha, and Manama, with blasts also reported in Riyadh, as Iran carried out retaliatory strikes following U.S. and Israeli attacks that killed its supreme leader and other top officials.
On Sunday, Tehran also seemed to target a building complex in Abu Dhabi that houses multiple foreign missions, including the Israeli embassy.
Two people were injured by debris during the incident at Etihad Towers, AFP reported.
Three people — Pakistani, Nepalese and Bangladeshi nationals — have been killed in the UAE since Saturday, according to Abu Dhabi’s defence ministry.
Since Saturday, the UAE detected 165 ballistic missiles, destroying 152, and intercepted two cruise missiles, the ministry said.
It added that 506 of 541 Iranian drones were shot down, AFP reported.
Kuwaiti authorities reported that one person had died and 32 others were injured since Saturday.
In Oman, which played a role in mediating U.S.-Iran talks and was initially untouched during the first day of Iran’s strikes, the port of Duqm was hit by two drones, according to the Oman News Agency.
Later on Sunday, Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi called for a ceasefire during a conversation with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi.
Albusaidi “affirmed the Sultanate of Oman’s continued call for a ceasefire and a return to dialogue… in a manner that achieves the legitimate demands of all parties,” his ministry said in a readout of the call.
Hotels become targets
Earlier, Oman said an oil tanker was targeted off the coast. Its crew was evacuated and four of them were injured, the news agency reported.
The Gulf Cooperation Council was to convene via video-link later Sunday for a unified response to Iran’s attacks.
Across the Gulf, civilian infrastructure has been hit: from airports and seaports to residential buildings and hotels.
Security analyst Anna Jacobs said: “The Gulf countries right now are really on the front lines of this brutal war.”
“Gulf countries, as always, want to support de-escalation and diplomacy… But this commitment and these principles are being put to the test right now,” she added.
“If Iran continues to hit these countries and escalates even more, it will be very difficult for them to just sit and do nothing.”
Early Sunday, drones struck the airport in Bahrain’s capital Manama, causing minor damage, authorities said.
The US embassy in Manama urged citizens to steer clear of hotels in Manama, warning they could become potential targets after the Crowne Plaza was hit.
– Palm, Burj Al Arab –
In the UAE, which has borne the brunt of the attacks, two people were injured when debris from intercepted drones fell on homes in Dubai, authorities said.
On Saturday, the Iranian attacks sparked fires at landmarks such as The Palm seafront development and Burj Al Arab hotel.
At the airport in Abu Dhabi, at least one person was killed and seven wounded during what authorities called an “incident” and another died earlier in the day from falling debris.
Dubai airport, the world’s busiest for international traffic, and Kuwait’s airport, were also hit.
In Saudi Arabia, Iranian missiles targeting Riyadh’s international airport and the Prince Sultan Airbase, which houses US military personnel, were intercepted, a Gulf source briefed on the matter told AFP.
A witness near the airport said they “saw and heard the air defence intercept the missile in the sky”.
In Qatar, host of the region’s biggest US military base, officials said Iran had launched 65 missiles and 12 drones towards the Gulf state, most of which were intercepted, but eight people were injured, with one in critical condition.
The oil-and-gas-rich Arab monarchies host a clutch of US military bases.
(With inputs from AFP)
