Smoke rising from the US Embassy building in Baghdad, Iraq (Photo: AP)
The US-Israel war on Iran entered its 15th day on Saturday as the conflict extended into the Gulf region, with Iran striking the US embassy complex in Baghdad, targeting a major oil storage center in the United Arab Emirates, and intensifying drone and missile attacks on countries in the region, while Israel carried out new strikes in Lebanon and Iraq.In Dubai, debris from a missile intercepted by UAE air defense systems hit the facade of a building in central Dubai on Saturday, the second incident of its kind in as many days.
The Pentagon orders the USS Tripoli and 2,500 Marines to head from the Pacific to the Middle East.
The Dubai Media Office said that the incident was completely contained without a fire occurring and no injuries were reported.In one of the most dramatic escalations of the day, a missile or drone struck the US Embassy compound in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, with smoke seen rising from the site.
According to the Associated Press news agency, a missile hit the helipad inside the complex. There was no immediate comment from the US Embassy.The bombing of the embassy came after a previous air strike targeted a house in the Karrada area of Baghdad, killing at least one person and wounding two others. The report said that the attack appears to have targeted figures in an Iranian-backed armed group.According to Agence France-Presse, the raids on the Hezbollah Brigades resulted in the killing of two members, one of whom was a “key figure.”
UAE oil hub hit, debris falls in Dubai
In the Emirates, smoke was seen rising from the direction of Fujairah, which has a major port and an oil export terminal, in the latest blow to the oil infrastructure in the Gulf. A fire broke out near Fujairah Port after a drone was intercepted, but no casualties were reported.The UAE Ministry of Defense said that nine ballistic missiles and 33 drones were launched into the country on Saturday. This came as debris from another successfully intercepted missile hit a building in central Dubai on Saturday, a day after similar debris hit a building in Dubai’s financial district. Two witnesses, quoted by Agence France-Presse, said they saw damage to the Dubai International Financial Center after hearing a “loud bang” on Friday.Iran has warned residents to evacuate UAE port areas, saying that US ports, docks and military bunkers in the UAE are now “legitimate targets.”The UAE has intercepted more than 1,500 Iranian drones and nearly 300 missiles since the war began on February 28, making it the most targeted Gulf country in the conflict. Abu Dhabi Police arrested 45 people, including foreigners, for filming the attacks and allegedly “spreading misinformation” online, after residents received text alerts warning them not to share sensitive images or unverified content.
Israel puts pressure on Lebanon and kills medics
Israel continued its attack on Lebanon, with the Lebanese Ministry of Health saying that a nighttime raid on a healthcare center in Burj Qalawiya killed 12 doctors, nurses and paramedics, according to Agence France-Presse. The largest death toll among medics since the start of the last round of fighting on March 2 rose to 26 dead and 51 wounded.An Israeli raid hit a residential building in one of the northern suburbs of Beirut, while another raid in Sidon, southern Lebanon, killed four people.
The fallout from the Kharg strike, and the broader pressures of war
Earlier, US forces struck military targets on Iran’s Kharg Island, the country’s main crude oil export center. Trump said that the United States had “erased” the military targets but was preserving the oil infrastructure, while warning that he might reconsider this if Iran interfered with shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.Despite the strikes, Iranian officials said oil operations in Kharg were continuing normally and no oil facilities were damaged, the Associated Press reported.The regional fallout continued to spread, with Saudi Arabia intercepting six drones, Qatar intercepting a missile, and Bahrain reporting new drone and missile attacks.The developments of the 15th day illustrate how the conflict is no longer limited to Iran and Israel, but is now directly striking diplomatic sites, oil infrastructure and urban centers throughout the wider Gulf.
