Iran hits Dubai, Saudi Arabia despite promise to spare neighbouring countries

Iran has continued to carry out missile and drone strikes on Gulf states despite promise by President Masoud Pezeshkian that Tehran would not target neighbouring countries unless attacks originated from their territories in the ongoing face-off with the US and Israel.

A resident of Dubai was killed on Saturday after debris from an aerial interception of a strike fell on a vehicle in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

According to the Dubai media office, the incident happened in the Al Barsha area. Authorities identified the deceased as an Asian driver but provided no further details.

The incident happened in the evening, just as the UAE said it was responding to “incoming missile and drone threats from Iran”.

Iran has conducted missile and drone strikes on multiple US military bases in Gulf countries, including Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, and Kuwait — as retaliation for the “pre-emptive” strikes launched by the US and Israel last Saturday.

Earlier, Pezeshkian apologised to the neighbouring countries affected by the retaliatory attacks.

Pezeshkian said the armed forces had been ordered “not to attack neighbouring countries unless attacked first”.

Hours after his statements, Qatar’s ministry of defence said its armed forces had “intercepted” a missile attack.

A separate strike in the UAE later led to the death of a resident.

Officials said air defence systems were intercepting ballistic missiles, while fighter jets were targeting drones and other aerial vehicles.

The attack occurred shortly after previous alerts of incoming Iranian strikes were issued in the UAE.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s defence ministry also announced that a ballistic missile has been launched towards Prince Sultan Air Base, near the city of Al-Kharj, but that it fell in an “unpopulated area”.

Iran has maintained that its attacks on the Gulf countries do not interfere with their national sovereignty but are only focused on US military bases.

“Before the start of the ‘Ramadan war’, we clearly announced to each and every country in the region that if America takes military action against Iran, we will definitely target American bases; these bases are considered American territory and not the territory of the countries in the region; this policy has not changed in any way and will continue with determination,” Alaeddin Boroujerdi, a member of the parliament’s national security and foreign policy commission, said.

However, states such as Qatar have complained that oil refineries, hotels, and airports have also been hit by Iranian strikes.

After Pezeshkian’s comments, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) issued a statement saying the country’s military “respect the interests and national sovereignty of neighbouring countries and have not yet attacked them”.

“However, in the continuation of previous offensive actions, all military bases and interests of the criminal America and the fake Zionist regime on land, sea and space in the region will be subjected to crushing and fierce blows by the powerful armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the IRGC added.

Abolfazl Shekarchi, spokesperson for the Iranian military, noted that countries that do not provide their space, land, and resources to enemies will not be targeted and will maintain their security.

Shekarchi said any country that allows its airspace or land to be used against Iran will be regarded as a target.

The Gulf states’ anger about the attacks has been reported to be growing since claiming they had clearly communicated to Iran that the US bases and their airspace would not be used in the American attacks.

Gulf Cooperation Council foreign ministers are due to meet on Sunday.