Iranian attacks target Gulf States as US warns bombing will intensify

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Intense Iranian fire targeted Gulf Arab states on Saturday morning as Israel and the United States continued airstrikes against the Islamic Republic.

There was no predictable end to the fighting. US President Donald Trump’s administration approved a new $151 million arms sale to Israel after Trump said he would not negotiate with Iran without its “unconditional surrender” and US officials warned of an upcoming bombing campaign that they said would be the most intense in a week of conflict.

Iran’s ambassador to the UN said his country would “take all necessary measures” to defend itself.

Associated Press video shows explosions and smoke rising over western Tehran as Israel says it has launched a large wave of strikes. Also early Saturday, loud booms rang out in Jerusalem and missiles from Iran sent people heading toward bomb shelters across Israel.

Israeli emergency services did not immediately report any casualties.

In a sign of the scale of the conflict, sirens sounded in Bahrain on Saturday morning as Iranian attacks targeted the island kingdom. And Saudi Arabia said it destroyed drones heading toward its vast Shaybah oil field and shot down a ballistic missile launched toward Prince Sultan Air Base, which hosts U.S. forces.

The United States and Israel have hit Iran with strikes targeting its military capabilities, leadership and nuclear program. The stated goals and timeline of the war have changed several times, with the United States at times hinting that it seeks to overthrow the Iranian government or elevate new leadership from within.

Qatari Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi warned in an interview with the Financial Times that the war could “bring down the world’s economies”, predicting a widespread shutdown of Gulf energy exports that could send oil to $150 a barrel.

The price of a barrel of benchmark American crude exceeded $90 on Friday for the first time in more than two years.

Russia has provided Iran with information that could help Tehran strike U.S. warships, aircraft and other assets in the region, according to two officials familiar with the matter.

The people, who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, cautioned that U.S. intelligence had not discovered that Russia was ordering Iran what to do with the information.

Yet this is the first indication that Moscow is seeking to get involved in the war.

In a social media post Friday, Trump said, “There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!” » After a capitulation, “and the selection of a BIG & ACCEPTABLE Leader(s),” he wrote, the United States and its allies will help rebuild Iran, making it “economically bigger, better and stronger than ever.”

These comments were likely to raise further questions about the end of the war. The fighting has killed at least 1,230 people in Iran, more than 200 in Lebanon and a dozen in Israel, according to officials in those countries. Six American soldiers were killed.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on social media that “some countries” had begun mediation efforts, without giving further details.

Iranian state television reported Friday that a leadership council had begun discussing how to convene the country’s Assembly of Experts, which will select the new supreme leader.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a television interview on Friday that the “largest bombing campaign” of the war was yet to come.

Israel said that over the past week it had heavily bombed a large underground bunker that Iranian leaders had planned to use during hostilities.

New information has surfaced suggesting that a deadly Feb. 28 explosion at a school in the Iranian town of Minab, about 1,100 kilometers (680 miles) southeast of Tehran, was likely caused by U.S. airstrikes. The information included satellite imagery, expert analysis, a U.S. official and public information released by U.S. and Israeli military forces.

Iranian state media said more than 165 people were killed in the blast, most of them children.

Iran blamed Israel and the United States for the explosion. Neither country has accepted responsibility, although Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the United States was investigating.

Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah said its fighters clashed with an Israeli force that landed in Lebanon’s eastern mountains on Friday evening. Lebanon’s health ministry said at least three people were killed.

Israel has not acknowledged the fighting and its military did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Israel has carried out waves of airstrikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut, where Hezbollah has a large presence but which is also home to hundreds of thousands of civilians.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said at least 217 people had been killed by Israeli strikes since Monday and 798 injured.

Roads in the Lebanese capital were clogged with traffic evacuations as smoke rose over the city’s southern neighborhoods. Two hospitals evacuated patients and staff.

“What can we do? We prayed here under the tree. During the night we slept in the car because there was no place to stay,” said Jihan Shehadeh, one of tens of thousands displaced.

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Metz reported from Ramallah in the West Bank, Rising from Bangkok and Abou AlJoud from Beirut. Associated Press journalists from around the world contributed.