Hours after Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian apologized for launching attacks on neighboring countries such as Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Saturday, sirens and missile alerts went off in Bahrain and Qatar, amid the ongoing Israel-Iran-US conflict.
The United Arab Emirates said it intercepted 15 ballistic missiles and 119 drones on Saturday as Iran kept up its attacks on its Gulf neighbour, reported AFP.
In Dubai, Emirates suspended flights after another round of projectiles disrupted the operations of the world’s largest international airline. A short time later, it said it was resuming operations.
What did the Iran president say?
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian reportedly apologized for launching attacks on neighboring countries such as Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE) amid conflict with Israel and the US.
In a pre-recorded speech broadcast on state TV on Saturday, Pezeshkian said Iran’s neighbors will not be targeted unless attacks are launched from them during the war with Israel and the United States.
“The interim leadership council agreed yesterday that no more attacks will be made on neighboring countries and no missiles will be fired unless an attack on Iran originates from those countries,” Pezeshkian was quoted by several reports as saying.
The series of incidents comes amid the ongoing Israel-Iran-US conflict which entered its eighth day on Saturday.
Israel-Iran-US conflict
Iran launched retaliatory strikes after the US and Israel jointly attacked the Islamic Republic on Saturday 28, February. Blasts were reported across Abu Dhabi, Doha, Qatar among other key Middle Eastern hubs – which are also home to US military bases.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei was also killed in the US-Israel strikes.
Fresh military activity in Saudi, UAE
On Saturday, fresh military activity was reported in UAE, Saudi Arabia.
UAE said it intercepted 15 ballistic missiles and 119 drones as Iran kept up its attacks, while Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted four drones targeting the country’s massive Shaybah oil field, marking the second attempted attack within hours, reported AP.
Gulf allies criticize Trump admin
Earlier, Gulf allies criticized the Trump administration for failing to notify them of Iran attacks, mentioned a report by AP.
On Friday. officials from two countries reportedly said their governments were disappointed with how the United States handled the early stages of the conflict, particularly the initial strike on Iran on February 28.
Meanwhile, Trump, on Saturday, warned that Iran ‘will be hit very hard,’ and vowed “complete destruction, death”. Today Iran will be hit very hard! Under serious consideration for complete destruction and certain death, because of Iran’s bad behavior,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
