More blasts rock Dubai, Doha and Manama as Iran targets US assets in Gulf 

More explosions have been heard across the Gulf states as Iran carries out attacks in retaliation for attacks by the United States and Israel that killed its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other top officials.

The explosions were heard for a second day on Sunday morning in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates; Bahrain’s capital, Manama; and Qatar’s capital, Doha, raising fears of a wider conflict in a region long seen as a haven of peace and security in an otherwise turbulent Middle East.

Witnesses in Doha reported hearing several loud bangs and seeing thick black smoke rising on the clear morning horizon in the south of the city.

Shortly after, another wave of explosions reverberated through Dubai, a regional business hub. Puffs of white smoke from missile interceptions were seen in the city’s skies, while billows of dark smoke rose over its port of Jebel Ali, one of the busiest in the Middle East.

Explosions were also reported in Manama, with witnesses reporting at least four loud explosions. There was no immediate report of any damage or injuries from Sunday’s blasts.

The explosions came after a day of similar Iranian strikes on US military bases and other assets across the Gulf – except for Oman, which was mediating the nuclear talks between the US and Iran.

The oil-and-gas-rich Arab states, lying just across the Gulf from Iran, collectively host thousands of US troops.

On Saturday, Iran fired 137 missiles and 209 drones across the UAE, the country’s Ministry of Defence said, with fires and smoke reaching the Dubai landmarks of Palm Jumeirah and Burj al-Arab.

At Abu Dhabi’s airport, at least one person was killed and seven others wounded during what the facility’s authority called an “incident”. Dubai airport, the world’s busiest for international traffic, and Kuwait’s airport were also hit.

Meanwhile, Qatari officials said Iran launched 65 missiles and 12 drones towards the Gulf state on Saturday, most of which were intercepted, but 16 people were injured in the attacks.

Elsewhere in the region, the Jordanian defence systems intercepted missiles that entered the capital Amman’s airspace, as well as the country’s northern areas, according to Al Jazeera Arabic. Sirens were also heard in Kuwait, the network reported.

In northern Iraq, a drone crashed near Erbil international airport, according to local media reports, with a large plume of smoke rising. The US is reported to still have troops in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region as part of an international coalition against ISIL (ISIS).

‘A great crime’

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has denounced Khamenei’s killing “as a great crime”. Iran’s armed forces’ chief of staff, Abdul Rahim Mousavi, has also been killed in the joint US-Israeli attacks.

Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, said in a televised address on Sunday that “you [US and Israel] have crossed our red line and must pay the price”. “We will deliver such devastating blows that you yourselves will be driven to beg,” he said.

Trump said the US will hit Iran “with a force that has never been seen before” if the Middle East nation hits back over the killing of Khamenei, who ruled over the country for 37 years.

“Iran just stated that they are going to hit very hard today, harder than they have ever been hit before,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “THEY BETTER NOT DO THAT, HOWEVER, BECAUSE IF THEY DO, WE WILL HIT THEM WITH A FORCE THAT ⁠HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE!”

More than 200 killed in Iran

Israel’s military early on Sunday said it had struck more than 30 targets in attacks on western and central Iran, announcing that strikes would continue on Iranian air defence installations, missile sites, military headquarters and other “regime targets”.

Since Saturday, at least 201 people have been killed in Iran, including at least 148 people in an attack on an elementary girls’ school in the southern city of Minab.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it was carrying out retaliatory attacks at 27 US bases, the Israeli Tel Nof airbase, the Israeli army’s command headquarters at HaKirya in Tel Aviv, and a large defence industrial complex in the city.

Shortly after 6am local time (03:00 GMT), air raid sirens were repeatedly sounded across Israel, including in Tel Aviv, after a series of explosions were heard.

The Iranian government has announced the formation of a three-person interim council to oversee the transition following the death of their supreme leader, as his supporters take to the streets in Tehran and other cities in mourning.

Pezeshkian also declared seven days of public holidays in addition to the 40 days of mourning announced by the government.