Hours after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian apologized for attacking “neighboring countries” – which host large US military bases – the State Department said Tehran would continue its response until what it called “aggression” stopped or the UN Security Council fulfilled its responsibility to identify the aggressors, Reuters reported.
Iran further said that its defensive operations targeting US military bases and facilities in the region should not be interpreted as hostility towards neighboring countries.
The statement comes as missile and drone attacks continue to rock the Arab states of the Persian Gulf. Fresh explosions were reported in Doha and Manama, while the UAE’s defense ministry said the country’s air defense systems were dealing with missile and drone attacks from Iran.
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United Arab Emirates President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who has launched a sharp attack on his “enemies”, said the Gulf country was at war and warned it was not “easy prey”.
“The UAE has thick skin and bitter flesh – we are not easy prey,” Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who is also Abu Dhabi’s ruler, said on Friday while visiting those injured in the attacks. The remarks were broadcast by Abu Dhabi TV on Saturday.
Read also | Dubai News: A few hours after the Iranian president’s “apology”, new loud explosions were heard
“We will fulfill our duty to our country, our people and our residents who are also part of our family,” he said.
Hours earlier, a barrage of missiles and drones disrupted flight operations at Dubai International Airport, hit a major Saudi oil facility and forced residents of Bahrain to seek shelter.
Hours after Pezeshkian’s apology, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain continued to issue warnings and report the interception of incoming missiles.
Israel-Iran-US conflict
Iran launched retaliatory strikes after the US and Israel jointly attacked the Islamic Republic on Saturday, February 28. Blasts were reported across Abu Dhabi, Doha, Qatar and other key Middle Eastern centers – which are also home to US military bases.
Read also | US-Israel, Iran war: Trump wants ‘great, acceptable’ leader for Tehran
New military activity in UAE, Saudi Arabia
The United Arab Emirates said it intercepted 15 ballistic missiles and 119 drones as Iran continued its attacks. “UAE air defense systems detected 16 ballistic missiles today, Saturday, March 7, 2026, of which 15 were intercepted and destroyed, while one ballistic missile fell into the sea,” the Ministry of Defense said in a post on X.
“Air defense systems also detected 121 UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles), of which 119 were intercepted while two landed in UAE territory.”
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted four drones targeting the country’s huge Shaybah oil field, marking the second attempted attack in a matter of hours, the AP reported.
Read also | I apologize to Iran for targeting the Gulf. A few hours later, the UAE diverted 119 drones
At the same time, Israeli warplanes continued to attack Beirut and Tehran. The death toll from the escalating conflict continued to rise Saturday, with officials reporting at least 1,230 killed in Iran, more than 200 in Lebanon and about a dozen in Israel, the AP report said.
Earlier, Gulf allies criticized the Trump administration for not informing them of the Iranian attacks. Officials of the two countries reportedly said their governments were disappointed with the United States’ handling of the early stages of the war, particularly the initial strike on Iran on February 28.
