A luxury hotel in Dubai was set ablaze on Saturday night as Iran launched a sweeping wave of missile and drone attacks across the Middle East, marking a dramatic escalation in response to what Tehran described as a “massive” and ongoing assault by the United States and Israel.
Verified video footage showed flames tearing through the Fairmont The Palm, with thick black smoke rising above the Palm Jumeirah skyline. Dubai authorities later confirmed that four people were injured in a fire at a building in the area, saying the blaze had been brought under control. Officials did not specify whether the hotel had been directly struck or hit by falling debris.
The attack on Dubai came as Iranian forces targeted US military assets and allied states across the region. Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait , all hosts to American bases , said their air defences intercepted missiles fired towards their territory.
Read related News:
Iran resumes activity at nuclear sites
Trump defends US–Israel military strike on Iran, cites nuclear threat
Iran resumes activity at nuclear sites
In Bahrain, residents reported loud explosions near the headquarters of the United States Navy Fifth Fleet, with video showing large plumes of smoke rising into the night sky. The Bahraini government confirmed an attack on the base, officially known as Naval Support Activity Bahrain, though the extent of the damage remains unclear. The US has not commented.
Footage from Manama appeared to show a drone striking a tower block, erupting into a bright yellow fireball. In Kuwait, explosions were heard near the capital, while the state news agency Kuna reported that a drone attack on the international airport caused minor injuries to several staff and limited damage to one terminal.
Qatar said it had intercepted multiple missiles apparently aimed at the Al Udeid Air Base, the largest US military installation in the Middle East. Explosions were visible near Doha, and social media footage showed civilians fleeing as a missile fell into a residential area.
Qatar’s foreign ministry condemned what it called the “targeting of Qatari territory with Iranian ballistic missiles”, describing the strikes as a “flagrant violation” of national sovereignty and an unacceptable escalation.
The US military also shot down a drone over a base near Erbil in northern Iraq, according to Reuters.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it was carrying out the attacks under an operation dubbed “Truthful Promise 4”, targeting US bases and assets in retaliation for strikes launched earlier on Saturday by Washington and Israel. Those strikes reportedly focused on sites linked to Iran’s leadership, with Donald Trump publicly urging Iranians to rise up against their rulers.
The United Arab Emirates said it had also come under ballistic missile attack. Its defence ministry said air defences intercepted several projectiles, but confirmed that debris fell on a residential area in Abu Dhabi, killing one civilian and causing material damage.
In Israel, air raid sirens sounded repeatedly throughout the day as the military said multiple rounds of Iranian missiles were fired towards the country. Neighbouring Jordan said its forces intercepted two ballistic missiles over its territory, with no reported casualties.
Beyond the immediate violence, fears are growing over wider economic fallout. The UK Maritime Trade Operations said it had received reports warning that the Strait of Hormuz could be closed to shipping. Around one fifth of the world’s oil and gas passes through the narrow waterway, and any disruption could send global energy prices sharply higher.
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, condemned the US and Israeli strikes as “wholly unprovoked, illegal, and illegitimate”, warning that Iran’s armed forces were ready to “teach the aggressors the lesson they deserve”.
As missiles flew across capitals and fires burned in city centres, the region edged closer to a wider war, one with consequences far beyond the Middle East.
