Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Israel said on Monday it had operational plans for at least three more weeks of conflict as it struck sites across Iran overnight, while Iranian drone attacks temporarily shut Dubai International Airport and hit an oil facility in the UAE.
The war, entering its third week, showed no clear sign of ending as the Strait of Hormuz remained largely shut to tanker traffic carrying 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas, pushing up energy prices and raising inflation concerns.
Israel outlines extended operational plans
Israeli military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told reporters that operational plans extended beyond three weeks and that Israel still had thousands of targets to strike inside Iran. He said Israel aimed to weaken Iran’s leadership and degrade the capabilities of its security establishment.
Israel has said its objectives include striking ballistic missile infrastructure, nuclear facilities and the security apparatus.
Overnight strikes and reported casualties in Iran
The Israeli military said it carried out overnight strikes on Tehran, Shiraz and Tabriz, and targeted sites linked to Iran’s space programme, including a research facility in Tehran involved in developing a satellite launched in 2024.
Iran’s Mehr news agency reported five people killed and seven wounded in strikes on Markazi province in central Iran, and said a boys’ school in Khomein city had been targeted with damage to the surrounding area. Fars News Agency reported civilian casualties in a strike near Tehran’s Martyrs’ Square. Rescue workers in the capital pulled people from the wreckage of a building in what an Iranian Red Crescent worker described as an entirely residential alleyway.
A Tehran resident, Shahnaz, 62, told Reuters via WhatsApp that the internet had been cut overnight and that people felt isolated, saying, “People are being killed. Just days before Nowruz, but people are not in the mood to celebrate. When will this end?”
Iran says it launched retaliatory attacks
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Tehran launched retaliatory attacks on Tel Aviv, the US al-Dhafra air base in Abu Dhabi, the US naval base in Bahrain and Bahrain’s Sheikh Issa air base.
Oil loading operations at the UAE port of Fujairah were suspended after a separate Iranian drone strike. Saudi Arabia intercepted 34 drones in its eastern region within one hour, state media reported, with no injuries reported. Reuters reporters also heard explosions in Doha.
Flights at Dubai International Airport were suspended for several hours after a drone strike on a nearby fuel storage facility sent plumes of black smoke into the sky.
Iran foreign minister comments on ceasefire and civilian casualties
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Tehran had not requested a ceasefire or exchanged messages with the United States, and accused unnamed neighbouring states that host US forces of actively encouraging the killing of Iranians. He said 200 children were among the hundreds of Iranian civilians killed in US or Israeli strikes.
Oil prices fall after comments on passage through Hormuz
Oil prices, which had been above $100 a barrel, fell sharply and stocks rallied after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington was prepared to allow some Iranian fuel vessels to sail through the Strait of Hormuz, and that Indian and Chinese tankers had also passed through.
Ship-tracking data showed a Pakistan-bound oil tanker transited the strait over the weekend, indicating some countries were able to negotiate safe passage.
Strikes continue in Lebanon and Gaza
Israel also continued strikes on Lebanon and Gaza, with its military saying ground operations had begun against Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon.
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