Updated by Faith Barbara N Ruhinda at 1143 EAT on Monday 2 March 2026

Explosions were heard in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and in Doha, the capital of Qatar, for a third straight day as Iran continued retaliatory strikes on neighbouring Gulf states in response to ongoing attacks by the United States and Israel.

In Kuwait, loud bangs and warning sirens were reported early on Monday. A witness cited by Reuters said smoke was seen rising near the US embassy.

Kuwaiti air defences shot down most of the drones over the Rumaithiya and Salwa neighbourhoods, the state-run Kuwait News Agency reported, quoting the director general of civil defence.

Tehran said it would target US military assets in the region as US and Israeli strikes on Iran entered a third day on Monday.

Iran’s attacks have hit a range of civilian and commercial areas across Gulf cities, expanding the conflict’s impact on major regional aviation and trade hubs.

Meanwhile, the Bahrain Ministry of Interior said it had activated air raid alerts and urged residents to move to the nearest safe locations.

Authorities also announced the closure of the Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Bridge linking the capital, Manama, to nearby towns, and advised residents to use main roads only when necessary.

At least one person has been killed in Kuwait, three in the United Arab Emirates and 16 people have been injured in Qatar.
Meanwhile, at least 201 people have been killed in Iran in US-Israeli attacks, with 747 wounded, while at least nine people have been killed and 121 injured in Israel.

Iran ‘attacking American targets’
The United States, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates issued a joint statement on Sunday condemning Iranian attacks across the region and affirming their right to self-defence.

Gulf countries “will take all necessary measures to defend their security and stability and to protect their territories, citizens and residents, including the option of responding to the aggression”, the statement issued after the meeting said.

However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday that Iran is not seeking confrontation with its Gulf neighbours. Speaking to Al Jazeera, he said Tehran has “no problem with the countries on the other side of the Persian Gulf”, referring to the Gulf, also known as the Arabian Gulf.

He added that Iran maintains “friendly and good neighbourly relations with all of them” and is determined to preserve those ties.

“What we are doing is in fact an act of self-defence and retaliation to the American aggression against us,” Araghchi said.

“We are not attacking our brothers in the Persian Gulf, we are not attacking our neighbours, but we are attacking American targets,” he added.

Source: Observer

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