Iran unbowed as Trump warns of ‘hitting hard’
• Tehran apologises to neighbours as war with US, Israel enters second week
• Says it will attack Gulf states only if strikes originate from their territory
• Iranian drones strike US bases in UAE, Bahrain
• Israeli army says 3,400 strikes conducted on Iran since war began
• Ankara warns Tehran against firing more missiles towards Turkiye
• Saudi minister warns Iran against ‘miscalculation’; Arab League to meet today
• UAE president tells ‘enemies’ country is ‘no easy prey’
• Emirates says intercepted 15 ballistic missiles, 119 drones
TEHRAN: Israel and Iran traded attacks as the Middle East war entered a second week on Saturday, while Tehran made an unusual apology to neighbouring states, apparently seeking to calm regional anger at Iranian strikes on Gulf civilian targets, but it dismissed US President Donald Trump’s demand for Tehran’s unconditional surrender as “a dream”.
“I personally apologise to neighbouring countries that were affected by Iran’s actions,’’ Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said, urging them not to join US-Israeli attacks on Iran.
He said the country’s temporary leadership council had agreed to suspend attacks on nearby states unless strikes on Iran originated from their territory.
Trump nonetheless cast Iran’s apology as a surrender, while saying the country would be “hit very hard” on Saturday and warned the US could widen its attacks to areas and groups of people that were not previously designated targets.
Iran targets US bases
Pezeshkian’s comments caused a political stir in Iran, prompting his office to reiterate Iran’s military would respond firmly to attacks from US bases in the region.
Hours after Pezeshkian’s announcement, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said their drones struck a US air combat centre at Al Dhafra Air Base, near Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates. The Revolutionary Guards also targeted US forces at a base in Bahrain, the Iranian state media said. Blasts were also heard in Doha, a Reuters witness said.
Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, Iran’s judiciary chief, said evidence from Iran’s armed forces indicates that the territory of some regional countries was being used to carry out attacks against Iran.
Heavy strikes on those targets will continue, said Mohseni-Ejei, who is also a member of the interim leadership council set up after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was assassinated in an airstrike on his compound at the start of the conflict.
Huge explosions were heard in several parts of the Iranian capital, state media reported.
The US-Israeli attacks have killed at least 1,332 Iranian civilians and wounded thousands, according to Iran’s UN ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani. Iranian attacks have killed 10 people in Israel and at least six US service members have been killed.
Meanwhile, a classified report by the US National Intelligence Council has found that even a large-scale assault on Iran would be unlikely to oust its entrenched military and clerical establishment, according to The Washington Post’s John Hudson.
“The report outlined succession scenarios resulting from either a short or extended US military campaign. In both cases, it concluded the clerical and military establishment would respond to Khamenei’s killing by following protocols designed to preserve continuity of power,” he wrote on X.
“The report says the prospect of Iran’s fragmented opposition taking control of the country is “unlikely,” raising doubts about Trump’s declared plan to “clean out” Iran’s leadership structure and install a ruler of his choosing,” he added.
Gulf states hit by drones, missiles
The US-Israeli war on Iran has already spilled beyond Iran’s borders, as Tehran has responded by hitting Israel and Gulf Arab states hosting US military installations and Israel has launched fresh attacks in Lebanon after the Iran-aligned militia Hezbollah fired across the border.
Gulf states voiced outrage that their civilian infrastructure — hotels, ports and oil facilities — was struck. The UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Iraq have all reported drone or missile attacks over the past week.
Iran had mended fences with its Gulf neighbours in recent years, including with former regional arch-rival Saudi Arabia.
The president of the United Arab Emirates said his nation was in a time of war but was well and told his enemies it was no easy prey, in his first public comments since Iran launched missiles at its Gulf neighbour.
“The UAE has thick skin and bitter flesh — we are no easy prey,” Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who is also ruler of Abu Dhabi, said in comments, made on Friday when visiting those injured in strikes, aired on Abu Dhabi TV on Saturday.
“We will carry out our duty towards our country, our people and our residents who are also part of our family,” he said.
The UAE also said its air defences intercepted 15 missiles and 119 drones on Saturday morning and video footage showed one projectile crashing into Dubai airport, the world’s busiest for international traffic.
Saudi Arabia’s Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman urged Iran to “avoid miscalculation”. In a series of statements, the Saudi defence ministry said it had thwarted repeated missile launches at an air base which houses US military personnel and drone attacks at a major oil field.
Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan warned Iran on Saturday against firing any more missiles towards Turkiye, after Nato air defences destroyed a missile heading into Turkish airspace several days ago.
Speaking at a press conference in Istanbul, Fidan also said Turkiye opposed all scenarios aiming to create ethnicity-based civil war in Iran, adding that such scenarios could lead to migrant waves.
Turkiye is also considering the possibility of sending F-16 fighter jets to Northern Cyprus as a security measure, a Turkish defence ministry source said, days after the island was targeted by a drone attack.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan earlier told British Prime Minister Keir Starmer by phone that there are still things that can be done to build a ground for dialogue on Iran, and that Turkiye’s peace-focused efforts are ongoing.
Iran rejects Trump call
Iran’s apparent strategy of maximum chaos has driven up the costs of the conflict by raising energy prices, hurting global business and logistics links and shaking trust in the stability of a critical region for the world’s economy.
Early on Saturday, the Iranian army said its navy had carried out drone strikes against targets in Israel as well as US gathering points and bases in Abu Dhabi and Kuwait.
Speaking at an event hosting Latin American leaders in Miami, Florida, Trump said on Saturday the US had knocked out 42 Iranian navy ships in three days.
Israel’s military said on Saturday evening that it had begun a new “wave of strikes” in Tehran.
It said more than 80 fighter jets completed a wave of strikes on Iranian military sites, missile launchers and other targets in Tehran and central Iran.
The Israeli military reported identifying missiles fired from Iran at Israel on eight different occasions on Saturday, setting off air raid sirens in parts of the country and prompting Israeli air defences to intercept incoming fire.
Israel’s military also said it had struck aircraft belonging to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards at Tehran’s Mehrabad airport, as part of a wave of strikes overnight on the city.
It said that “16 aircraft of the ‘Quds Force’ unit of the IRGC were precisely dismantled”, referring to the branch of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards that oversees its foreign operations.
The Israeli military had carried out around 3,400 strikes on Iran since Israel and the United States started the war against Tehran a week ago.
Military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said on Saturday that roughly 7,500 munitions had been dropped on targets in Iran during the operation.
The war has roiled global markets and oil prices have hit multi-year highs with the Strait of Hormuz effectively shut. About one-fifth of global oil moves daily through the strait.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards hit a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker in Hormuz, Iranian state media reported on Saturday. Trump has said the US Navy could escort ships in the Gulf. But Iran’s Revolutionary Guards challenged him to do so, with spokesperson Alimohammad Naini saying Iran “welcomes” and is “awaiting” any US presence in the strait, state media said.
Iran’s military called on its neighbour Azerbaijan to “expel the Zionists” from its territory in order to preserve its security, a day after Baku accused Tehran of plotting attacks on its territory. “We declare to Iran’s neighbouring country, the Republic of Azerbaijan, as a Muslim country, to expel the Zionists from that country in order to prevent the spread of insecurity in the region and not to endanger the security of its people and Islamic Iran,” a military spokesman said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the foreign ministers of the Arab League will hold an emergency meeting on Sunday to discuss Iranian attacks on several of the group’s members, the bloc’s assistant secretary-general told AFP.
‘Hands Off Iran’ march
Meanwhile, thousands of protesters marched through London on Saturday calling for an end to the US and Israeli strikes on Iran, according to The Independent. Between 5,000 and 6,000 people turned out for the “Hands Off Iran” march, the Metropolitan Police said, with demonstrators chanting: “Stop the bombing now, now, now.”
Published in Dawn, March 8th, 2026