CAIRO (AP) — Gulf Arab states reported new missile and drone attacks on Sunday after Iran threatened to widen its campaign and called for the evacuation of three major ports in the United Arab Emirates as the war in the Middle East, now in its third week, expands further.
Israel and the United States attacked Iran on Feb. 28, saying they were striking nuclear and military sites and encouraging the Iranian people to rise against their leaders. Iran has responded with attacks against Israel and neighboring countries in the Persian Gulf.
The war, which shows no signs of ending soon, has upended global air travel, disrupted oil exports from the region and sent fuel prices rising across the world.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he hoped allies would send warships to secure the Strait of Hormuz. None of the countries, which rely more heavily than the U.S. on oil and gas that passes through the strait, responded with firm commitments by Sunday though some said they were considering action.
Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE warned residents on Sunday that they were working to intercept incoming projectiles, a day after Iran threatened the Emirati ports, the first time it has done so against a neighboring country’s non-U.S. assets.
Iran had earlier accused the U.S. of using “ports, docks and hideouts” in the UAE to launch strikes on Kharg Island, home to the main terminal handling Iran’s oil exports, without providing evidence for the claim. The UAE and other Gulf countries that host U.S. bases have denied allowing their land or airspace to be used for military operations against Iran.
Since the start of the war, Iranian strikes have killed at least a dozen civilians in the Gulf states, most of them migrant workers. In Iran, the International Committee for the Red Cross said more than 1,300 people have been killed so far. Iran's Health Ministry says 223 women and 202 children are among those killed, according to Mizan, the judiciary's official news agency.
In Israel, 12 people have been killed by Iranian missile fire since the war started and more have been injured, including three on Sunday. At least 13 members of the U.S. military have also been killed since the war began; six of them died in a plane crash in Iraq last week.
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s humanitarian crisis deepened, with over 820 people killed there, according to the Ministry of Health, and 850,000 displaced since Iran-backed Hezbollah started hitting Israel and Israel responded with strikes and sent additional troops into southern Lebanon.
Iran says the US attacked from the UAE
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said the U.S. attacked Kharg and Abu Musa islands from two locations in the UAE — Ras Al Khaimah and a place “very close to Dubai." He called the escalation dangerous and said Iran “will try to be careful not to attack any populated area” there.
U.S. Central Command said it had no response to Iran’s claim.
Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, rejected Iranian claim that the U.S. used Emirati land or air space for its attacks on Kharg Island.
Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Gulf neighbors — Bahrain, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman — during the war.
It says it targets U.S. assets, even as Iranian strikes are reported at civilian sites such as airports and oil fields. Though their air defenses have intercepted most, the war has caused significant damage and rattled economies in the Gulf.
Araghchi also told the London-based Al-Araby al-Jadeed on Sunday that Iran is ready to consider any proposal that includes “a complete end” to the war and said mediation efforts were ongoing between Iran and its neighbors to de-escalate.
He gave no indication on whether progress has been made.
Trump urges allies to send warships to Strait of Hormuz
As global anxiety soars over oil prices and supplies, Trump said Saturday that he hopes China, France, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and others send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz “open and safe.” It was unclear if any planned to answer his appeal.
In Europe, which relies heavily on oil and gas imports from the Gulf, Britain responded by saying it was discussing with allies a “range of options” to secure shipping.
Araghchi, in a social media post, urged neighbors to “expel foreign aggressors” and described Trump’s call as “begging.”
Iran’s joint military command has reiterated its threat to attack U.S.-linked “oil, economic and energy infrastructures” in the region if the Islamic Republic’s oil infrastructure is hit.
War unleashes mass displacement in Iran
The U.N. migration agency said Sunday that deteriorating conditions in Iranian cities were pushing many Iranians to northern provinces for safety.
The International Organization for Migration said Iranians are also fleeing to neighboring countries, including nearly 32,000 to Afghanistan and nearly 4,000 to Pakistan, even though airports and most border crossings — especially with Iraq — are closed.
After earlier wars — including in Syria and Afghanistan — sparked refugee crises that stretched resources and polarized politics in Europe, Turkey and North Africa, neighboring states worry the Iran war could again force large numbers of people from their homes.
Israel is hit with more Iranian missile strikes
Iran fired barrages of missiles toward Israel on Sunday, sending residents rushing to shelters as sirens sounded and several strikes hit central Israel and the Tel Aviv area.
Magen David Adom, Israel’s rescue service, released video showing a large crater in a street and shrapnel damage to an apartment building.
Strikes in the Tel Aviv region caused damage at 23 sites and sparked a small fire Sunday.
Multi-site impacts have become a hallmark of the war, as Israel’s military says Iran is firing cluster bombs that can evade some air defenses and scatter submunitions across multiple locations.
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Metz reported from Ramallah, West Bank, and Magdy from Cairo. Associated Press writers Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut and Tia Goldenberg in Washington contributed to this report.