The Middle East is on fire. Beirut evacuated, powerful explosions in the capital of Iran

The Israeli army confirmed strikes on “regime targets” in Tehran on the night from Friday to Saturday, while Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait are repelling massive drone and missile attacks launched from Iran. An immediate evacuation was ordered in Beirut.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a short statement that its aircraft “are striking targets of the Iranian terrorist regime in Tehran.” Agencies report explosions heard in the western districts of the Iranian capital. Earlier, Israeli defense intercepted ballistic missiles over the Dead Sea.

The conflict is constantly spreading to the Arab states of the Persian Gulf. The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Defense reported the shooting down of over 20 drones, mainly in the east of the country. Dubai authorities said the explosions in the city were the result of “successful drone interception operations” by defense systems. Kuwait's defense ministry also announced it was repelling “hostile missile and drone attacks.”

Tehran, in a message carried by the state broadcaster, threatened to strike the UAE with “decisive force” over the dispute over the islands of Abu Musa and Greater Tunb in the Strait of Hormuz.

At the same time, the IDF called for the “immediate evacuation” of residents of seven districts in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, where it is attacking targets of the Iran-funded organization Hezbollah.

In turn, the pro-Iranian group Islamic Resistance Movement in Iraq admitted to carrying out 27 operations in the last 24 hours using drones and missiles aimed “against enemy bases in Iraq and the region.” Earlier, the media reported an attack on a diplomatic and logistics facility at the Baghdad airport, where US military personnel are stationed.

The war between the United States and Israel against Iran has been going on since February 28, which has led to the paralysis of trade routes in the Strait of Hormuz and the destabilization of oil markets.

Iran launched an unsuccessful missile attack on the Diego Garcia base

Iran fired two medium-range ballistic missiles at the US and British military base on Diego Garcia Island in the Indian Ocean, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. According to sources in the US administration, none of the missiles hit the target.

As the daily revealed, one of the rockets suffered a technical failure during the flight. The American warship fired an SM-3 anti-ballistic missile at the second missile. It was not specified whether the interception was successful or whether the Iranian missile missed on its own.

CNN, citing an American official, confirmed that the attack took place on Friday morning local time. “None of them hit the base,” the station's interlocutor assured, adding that the missiles covered a distance of nearly 3.8 thousand kilometers. km from the Iranian coast.

“WSJ” points out that Tehran's attempt to strike targets located approximately 4,000 km from the country's territory indicates that Iranian missiles may have even twice the range than previously granted. Last month, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi claimed that their reach was limited to 2,000. km.

So far, the White House and the Pentagon have not issued an official statement on this matter.

Diego Garcia Atoll in the Indian Ocean serves as a strategic base for American bomber aviation. The attempted attack came shortly after the government in London announced that it had agreed to allow the US to use its military bases to launch attacks on Iranian missile facilities from which ships are being attacked in the Strait of Hormuz.

krp/ san/