US-Israel-Iran War: Iran Accused Of Attacks In UAE And Bahrain As Tehran Blanketed By Smoke

Kuwait says 2 border guards have been killed as country is hit by missiles and drones. The Interior Ministry identified them as Lt. Col. Abdullah Imad Al-Sharrah and Cap. Fahd Abdulaziz Al-Majmoud.

In a statement, the ministry said they were killed “while performing their national duty.”

The statement didn’t elaborate on the circumstances of their deaths.

-AP

State-run television is reporting that more sirens are sounding across Kuwait ahead of an attack.

The United Arab Emirates says it is responding to a missile attack. Authorities are urging residents to remain in safe locations as the country’s forces respond to a missile attack.

“Citizens and residents are urged to remain calm and head to the nearest safe place,” Bahrain’s Interior Ministry said.

-Al Jazeera

Kuwait’s air defence systems responded to missile and drone attacks. It had previously said that the explosions sounds were the result of the systems intercepting incoming fire.

-Al Jazeera

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said his remarks were “misinterpreted by the ⁠enemy that seeks to sow division ‌with neighbours”, state TV reported on Sunday, after they were viewed as suggesting a decision to suspend attacks on Gulf countries even as strikes continued.

“It has repeatedly been said we are brothers and must have good relations with neighbours. However, we are forced to retaliate to attacks but this does not mean we have a dispute with a (neighbouring) country or want to upset their people,” Pezeshkian said.

-The Hindu

Qatar Airways had said was planning to operate flights from London, Paris, Madrid, Rome, Frankfurt and Bangkok to Hamad international airport in Doha on March 8.

-Al Jazeera

Sri Lanka has discharged 22 Iranian sailors who were rescued from life rafts after their warship was sunk by a U.S. submarine, officials said on Sunday.

The sailors had been receiving treatment at Karapitiya Hospital in the southern port city of Galle since March 4 after the IRIS Dena was torpedoed just outside Sri Lanka’s territorial waters.

“Another 10 are still undergoing treatment,” a medical officer at the hospital told AFP.

Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior said at least three people were injured and a university building in the city of Muharraq was damaged following an Iranian attack.

The injuries were caused by falling missile debris, the ministry said in a post on X.

Ali Mohammad Naini, spokesperson for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has said the country’s forces are capable of sustaining an “intense war” at the current pace for six months against the United States and Israel, according to the Fars news agency.

Naini said Iran has so far deployed “first and second generation” missiles in the conflict but plans to use “advanced and less-used long-range missiles” in the coming days.

-Al Jazeera

The Iranian Red Crescent has warned people to take precautions because rain could turn toxic following fuel tank explosions. It said the rain may cause chemical burns on the skin and harm to the lungs.

In a Telegram post, the agency gave these instructions: During rainfall after explosions, do not leave your home under any circumstances. If you are outdoors, immediately take shelter under concrete or metal roofs and avoid sheltering under trees. If rain comes into contact with the skin, do not rub the affected area under any circumstances and rinse it only with a continuous stream of cold water. Immediately change clothes that have been soaked by the rain and place them in a sealed bag.1.3sFast

Tehran province governor has reduced the daily fuel quota for personal cards from 30 litres (7.9 gallons) to 20 litres (5.2 gallons), according to statements quoted by the Fars news agency. The official added that people should not worry about fuel supply, saying any disruptions will be resolved quickly. He promised the quota would return to normal after two or three days.

The Israeli military has issued a fresh warning to Iranian leadership, stating it will go after every possible successor to Khamenei, who died in US-Israeli strikes on February 28. In a Farsi-language post on social media, it further warned that it would target anyone involved in trying to name a replacement, specifically pointing to the Assembly of Experts as the group responsible for selecting the next supreme leader of the Islamic Republic.

The Iranian Health Ministry said Sunday that U.S. and Israeli strikes in Iran have killed 200 children and around 200 women. They are part of more than 1,200 people killed in the war overall, according to ministry spokesman Hossein Kermanpour in a social media post. He added that more than 1,000 others have been injured since February 28, including about 400 women.

Oman Air has announced the cancellation of flights to and from Amman, Dubai, Bahrain, Doha, Dammam, Kuwait, Copenhagen, Baghdad and Khasab from March 9 to March 15. The airline said the cancellations are due to the continued closure of the airspace in the region.

Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry said three Indonesian crew members are missing after the United Arab Emirates-flagged tugboat Musaffah 2 sank in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday. One Indonesian survivor is currently receiving burn treatment at a hospital in the city of Khasab, Oman. The other three Indonesians are still being searched for by the local authorities. Before it sank, the Musaffah 2 experienced an explosion that caused it to catch fire, the statement said. An investigation is ongoing by local authorities.

Concerns have been rising over the past few days as more civilian targets and energy infrastructure targets have been struck by Iranian drones and missiles, or by falling debris, in countries across the Gulf. In Bahrain, the Interior Ministry announced that an Iranian drone attack caused material damage to a water desalination plant. This is raising further concern about civilian infrastructure being targeted by Iran. It comes a day after Iran announced that the US had bombed a freshwater desalination plant in southern Iran, adding to worries about such incidents.

Foad Izadi, a professor at the University of Tehran, said that Israel’s strikes targeting Iran’s critical industries, such as energy installations, are a very significant development in the war. This is the first time that Iranian cities, including Tehran, are experiencing this type of attacks, Izadi told Al Jazeera. Right now it’s about noon local time, and it looks like it’s nighttime, because of all the smoke. We don’t see the sun, he said.

-Al Jazeera

The Israeli Ministry of Health reported that at least 1929 people have been taken to hospitals since Iran's retaliatory strikes began, which followed joint US-Israel air attacks on Tehran. This figure includes 157 evacuations in the past 24 hours. Among them, nine people are in serious condition, 42 in moderate condition and 70 in minor condition. The ministry noted that a significant number of hospital arrivals were injured while rushing to protected areas.

The Iranian Red Crescent Society said at least 9669 civilian units have been destroyed in US-Israeli attacks on Iran. The statistics provided by the relief NGO included 7943 residential units and 1617 commercial units.

Foad Izadi, a professor at the University of Tehran, said the main reason for the change in Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s statements was Trump’s response to Pezeshkian’s remarks on Saturday. Pezeshkian had said the decision had been made to no longer attack neighbouring countries unless an attack against Iran originated from their territories. On Sunday, Pezeshkian said his remarks were misinterpreted by the enemy that seeks to sow division with neighbours, according to state TV.

After that video came out, Trump had a Truth Social statement saying that Iran has apologised, saying that this shows that they are surrendering, Izadi said. Trump added that he is going to hit places that he was not thinking about hitting. He probably was talking about the oil facilities a few hours ago, Izadi said. So when Trump’s statement came out, then you had this backlash inside the country. Mr Pezeshkian is a reformist candidate, so the opposition basically criticised him for saying things that was used by Trump, he said.

-Al Jazeera

Swiss Defence Minister Martin Pfister said the US and Israel have broken international law with their attacks on Iran. The Federal Council is of the opinion that the attack on Iran constitutes a violation of international law, Pfister told SonntagsZeitung in an interview published today, referring to the Swiss cabinet. In our view it constitutes a violation on the prohibition of violence, he added, urging all parties involved to stop the fighting to protect the civilian population.

Pfister clarified he was referring to all the countries not complying with the prohibition on violence, including the US and Israel. The Americans and Israel have attacked Iran from the air. In doing so, they, like Iran, violated international law, Pfister said.

The remarks echo those of German Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil, who told the RND newspaper network that he had serious doubts that this war is legitimate under international law. Klingbeil also said there was a great danger that we are sliding ever deeper into a world where there are no longer any rules.

We do not want to live in a world where only the law of the strongest applies. Spain has also denounced the US and Israeli bombings of Iran as reckless and illegal. Experts have also told Al Jazeera the US and Israeli strikes against Iran likely violate the UN Charter’s prohibition on aggression and lack any valid legal justification.

Reports are coming in of an explosion being heard in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region. More details will be provided as soon as they become available.

The Lebanese Health Ministry said the number of people killed in Israeli attacks on the country has risen to at least 394, including 83 children. At least 1130 others have been wounded.

President Emmanuel Macron will visit Cyprus on Monday, his office said, as France deploys warships to the Mediterranean after an Iranian-made drone attack on Cyprus days ago. Macron will meet Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Paphos to show solidarity and detail moves to strengthen security around Cyprus and in the eastern Mediterranean, the Elysee said.

Cyprus, an EU country, was targeted by Iranian-made drones on Monday, leading Macron to order France’s Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier to the Mediterranean and a frigate and air defence units to Cyprus. This trip is intended to demonstrate France’s solidarity with Cyprus, a member state of the European Union with which we have a strategic partnership and which was recently hit by several drones and missile strikes, the Elysee said.

The visit to Cyprus will also allow Macron to emphasise the importance of guaranteeing freedom of navigation and maritime security in the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz, in particular through the European Union’s Aspides maritime operation, it added.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said on Sunday it will increase attacks against Israel and US assets in the Middle East as Israel continues to hit Iran with devastating strikes, according to the Iranian state-run news agency. The guard said the scale and depth of its missile and drone attacks will increase following what it called the brutality of US and Israeli strikes, according to IRNA news agency.

Britain’s Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the UK government will not outsource its foreign policy after further criticism from President Donald Trump over the country’s stance on the Iran war. She told BBC News that it was important to learn the lessons from the Iraq war in 2003 and its aftermath, when British forces fought alongside their US counterparts. She said it is our job as the U.K. government to decide what’s in the U.K. national interest, and that doesn’t mean simply agreeing with other countries or outsourcing our foreign policy to other countries.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer chose not to allow the US military to use British bases for the first wave of military action, but later said the UK would take part in defensive operations after Iran attacked countries throughout the Middle East. After learning that the UK was shortening the time needed for one of its two aircraft carriers, the HMS Prince of Wales, to prepare for deployment, Trump said we don’t need them any longer.

-AP

The Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Abouel Gheit criticized Iran on Sunday for attacking Arab countries during its war against the US and Israel. Speaking at a virtual meeting of Arab foreign ministers, he said Iran’s strikes against its Arab neighbors can’t be justified, and reflects a reckless policy. He stated that Arab countries have not been part of the US-Israel war against Iran, and declared that their territories wouldn’t be used as launching pads for US attacks. This unjustified Iranian aggression reflects a confused understanding and further isolates Iran during this difficult and delicate period, he said.

-AP

Firefighters have brought under control fires at Kuwait International Airport and a government agency in Kuwait City, hours after both sites were struck in missile and drone attacks early Sunday. The General Fire Force said in a statement that it managed to control fires at fuel tanks in the airport as well as the headquarters of the state-run Public Institution for Social Insurance. Spokesman Brig. Gen. Mohammed Badr said the fire damaged both the tanks and the insurance agency building. No casualties were reported, he said.

-AP

The head of the Roman Catholic Church has called for an end to the violence and urged renewed efforts to create space for dialogue. Speaking at the Angelus prayer in Saint Peter’s Square, Pope Leo said deeply troubling news continued to arrive from Iran and across the Middle East. He said the conflict was fuelling fear and hatred and raised concerns that it could spread further, dragging other countries, including dear Lebanon. Let us raise our humble prayer to the Lord that the roar of bombs may cease, that weapons may fall silent, and that space may be opened for dialogue in which the voices of peoples can be heard, the pontiff said.

The Israeli army said it has identified missiles launched from Iran. Defence systems are working to intercept the threat, the military said in a statement.

Firefighters have brought under control fires at Kuwait International Airport and a government agency in Kuwait City, hours after both locations were struck by missile and drone attacks early Sunday. The General Fire Force said in a statement that it managed to control fires at fuel tanks in the airport as well as the headquarters of the state-run Public Institution for Social Insurance. Spokesman Brig. Gen. Mohammed Badr said the fire damaged both the tanks and the insurance agency building. No casualties were reported, he said.

The Israeli military said it has completed another round of airstrikes in Tehran, in which it dismantled the space agency headquarters affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. It said the site was used by the IRGC to advance terrorist activities and monitor the State of Israel and its residents. Other targets included the Guard’s Internal Security command center and 50 of its ammunition bunkers, a compound belonging to its Ground Forces, and a base of the Guard’s volunteer Basij force, the army said.

The Israeli military said it has begun “wide-scale strikes” on Iranian regime targets in capital city Tehran and in “additional areas” in the country.

A CNN team on the ground in Tehran heard a wave of strikes a short while ago.

The United Arab Emirates doesn’t seek to be drawn into an escalation with Iran but reserves the right to protect its sovereignty, the foreign ministry said.

“The UAE stresses that it does not seek to be drawn into conflicts or escalation,” foreign ministry spokesperson Afra Al Hameli posted on X. “However, the UAE reaffirms its full right to take all necessary measures to safeguard its sovereignty, national security, and territorial integrity… in accordance with international law and the UN Charter.”

The UAE has been among the hardest hit of the roughly dozen countries that have reported being struck by Iranian projectiles.

Earlier on Sunday, the Jerusalem Post reported that the UAE had struck an Iranian desalination plant in its first attack on the country, citing an unidentified Israeli source. The paper later cited a UAE official denying the report.

Several Democratic lawmakers are signaling their opposition to a potential request for more funding for the Pentagon in light of the Iran war, arguing the Trump administration has not adequately outlined its objectives or expectations for how long the war might last.

Congress last year authorized nearly $900 billion in funding for military programs in a bipartisan package to fund the Defense Department through this fiscal year. But the Trump administration has briefed lawmakers on the potential need for more money amid the conflict, which analysts estimate is costing American taxpayers more than $890 million a day.

“At this particular point in time, the administration has failed to make its case as to the rationale or justification for this war of choice in the Middle East,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told NBC’s “Meet the Press” today.

It was unclear even after the Trump administration’s briefings with lawmakers how much money the Pentagon may ask for, when that request would come and how long officials expect the war to last.

The chances of advancing a package with the 60 votes needed in the Senate are also uncertain, as some Democrats, like Sen. Chris Murphy, make clear they are firmly opposed.

“If you support the troops, then you should be voting against funding this war so that we get our troops out of harm’s way,” Murphy told CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Most Senate Republicans opposed an effort to rein in Trump’s war powers in Iran last week, but some have indicated their position may change if the conflict drags on. Opposition from some Republicans could prove tricky for the administration’s efforts to get more money out of Congress.

Source: CNN