Explosions were heard over Dubai early on Tuesday as the United Arab Emirates’ military intercepted incoming Iranian missiles and drones, briefly forcing the country to close its airspace. The escalation came as Israel launched a new wave of strikes on Tehran and Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, raising fears of a wider regional conflict and disruption to global energy supplies. Follow our liveblog for the latest updates.
Explosions heard in Dubai after missile alert
Three explosions echoed across Dubai after a missile alert early on Tuesday, according to an AFP correspondent.
The blasts followed a mobile phone alert to residents to “immediately seek a safe place” over “potential missile threats”.
Several explosions heard in Doha
Several explosions were heard in Doha on Tuesday, an AFP journalist said, a day after several blasts resounded across the Qatari capital.
Qatar, like several Gulf nations, has been targeted by drones and missiles in recent days as Tehran presses a retaliatory campaign over attacks by the United States and Israel on Iran.
Tanker struck down by ‘unknown projectile’ near Oman
An “unknown projectile” struck a tanker off the coast of Oman, a UK maritime agency said on Tuesday, noting there were no reported injuries.
“A tanker has reported being struck by an unknown projectile whilst at anchor,” UK Maritime Trade Operations said in a post on X.
“Minor structural damage reported. No injuries to crew.”
Trump warned Iran could retaliate against Gulf allies, sources say
President Donald Trump was warned that attacking Iran could trigger retaliation against US Gulf allies, despite his claims on Monday that Tehran’s reaction came as a surprise, a US official and two sources familiar with US intelligence reports said.
Pre-war intelligence assessments did not say that Iran’s response was “a guarantee, but it certainly was on the list of potential outcomes”, said one source, who, like the other two, requested anonymity to discuss the issue.
The president twice on Monday said that Iran’s retaliatory strikes against Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait were a surprise, first at a Kennedy Center board meeting in the White House.
Iran ‘negotiating’ with FIFA over moving World Cup matches to Mexico
Iran’s football federation is “negotiating” with FIFA to relocate the country’s first-round matches at the World Cup to Mexico from the United States, citing the conflict in the Middle East, Iran’s embassy in Mexico said on Monday.
“When (US President Donald) Trump has explicitly stated that he cannot ensure the security of the Iranian national team, we will certainly not travel to America,” Iranian football chief Mehdi Taj said in remarks posted on the embassy’s X account.
“We are currently negotiating with FIFA to hold Iran’s matches in the World Cup in Mexico.”
Explosions in Dubai after UAE airspace reopened
The UAE shut down its airspace early on Tuesday as its military reported it was “responding to missile and drone threats from Iran”. The closure was soon lifted, the state-run WAM news agency quoted the UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority as saying.
Authorities said “the situation stabilised”, allowing flights to resume.
Shortly after, authorities sent a missile warning alert to people in Dubai. The sound of explosions could be heard in Dubai as the military worked to intercept the incoming fire.
Israel launches ‘wide-scale wave of strikes’ in Tehran and Lebanon
The Israeli military said early on Tuesday it had begun a “wide-scale wave of strikes” across Iran’s capital and was also stepping up strikes on Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. It announced the new strikes as Israel reported two incoming salvos from Iran.
Yesterday’s key developments:
Israel’s army said it had launched a “wide-scale wave of strikes” in the Iranian capital, Tehran, as well as strikes against Hezbollah in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.
US President Donald Trump on Monday repeated his call to nations to help reopen the shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, saying some countries told him they were on the way and others were not “enthusiastic” about helping.
Drones and rockets attacked various targets in Baghdad, apparently targeting a US embassy.
