The defense ministry said an Asian national was killed after the debris fell on a residential area of Abu Dhabi. AlJazeera reported.
The UAE said in the statement that it had intercepted “a number” of ballistic missiles fired by Iran, describing the attack as “a dangerous escalation and a cowardly act.”
We have not seen strikes like these across the Middle East before. Iran appears to be striking US targets in several countries at once, with blasts heard from the beaches of Dubai to the streets of Doha.
Things are moving fast. It’s not clear if those explosions were the sound of missiles being intercepted, or hitting their targets.
What is clear, however, is that the Iranian regime views this as an existential moment. They are going fast and aggressively. When the United States and Israel last struck Iran in June, they targeted the regime’s stockpile of ballistic missiles, hampering its ability to retaliate. Iran could be trying to make use of its arsenal while it still has it.
What is also clear is that the regime is not thinking about its relationships with its neighbors and wants to punish the US at any cost. Any country that hosts a US military base appears to be a target – the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait. There may be more.
President Donald Trump spoke on the phone with The Washington Post in the early morning hours Saturday, telling the news outlet that his primary objectives were “freedom” for the Iranian people and ensuring the country is “safe.”
Pressed about his future legacy in the aftermath of the military operation, Trump responded “All I want is freedom for the people,” The Post reported.
“I want a safe nation, and that’s what we’re going to have,” he added.
Several United States embassies in countries across the Middle East have called for Americans abroad to shelter-in-place. Those countries so far include Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Jordan.
“The U.S. Embassy in Manama urges U.S. citizens in Bahrain to shelter in place, review security plans in the event of an attack, and to stay alert in case of additional future attacks,” the US embassy in Manama, Bahrain, wrote on social media.
Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, Al Dhafra Air Base in the UAE, and the US Fifth Fleet base in Bahrain were targeted by Iranian missile attacks, Fars news agency said, citing the IRGC.
