Watch: Gulf High-Rises, Tourist Spots Get Pummeled by Iranian Ballistic Missiles

One thing is clear: THE MIDDLE EAST IS BURNING.

This article originally appeared on ZeroHedge and was republished with permission.

Guest post by Tyler Durden

Update(1245ET): Some absolutely crazy footage has been emerging Saturday amid Iran’s retaliation, following the overnight into early hours US-Israeli strikes on the Islamic Republic.

Among the most shocking: the Palm Jumeirah area has been hit, possibly directly or else by falling missile debris, which is the iconic man-made island in Dubai. Fairmont The Palm hotel on fire, and confirmation: “Dubai authorities confirm that an incident occurred in a building in the Palm Jumeirah area. Emergency response teams were deployed immediately, and the site has been secured. Dubai Civil Defence has confirmed that the resulting fire is now under control,” said the Dubai Media Office.

Gulf countries which host American bases are getting hit hard, including what appears to be major strikes on city centers:

Bahrain feeling it too:

Unconfirmed video: Are the Iranians trying to hit Burj Khalifa in Dubai?

So long as the US-Israeli attacks on Iran are sustained, the ballistic missiles will likely keep flying toward Israel and Gulf countries as well...

Apparently Shia Bahrain citizens celebrating drone impact on US base...

Meanwhile, this is what Iranian cities have been dealing with all day...

* * *

Iran launched retaliatory strikes targeting Israel and US assets across the Middle East, hitting sites in Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq - soon after the Trump-ordered ‘Operation Epic Fury’ started, which appears aimed at accomplishing regime change in Iran.

Multiple explosions rocked Tehran, with additional blasts reported in several other locations nationwide, soon after which several countries across the region closed their airspace once it was bombs away, and as the cross-border attacks intensified.

Israel is expected to get hit hard in the Iranian retaliation, which has been underway for hours at this point. Al Jazeera is citing West Bank residents who’ve observed loud explosions overhead of Israel’s defense system intercepting Iranian missiles.

“So far, there have been no reports of injuries in Israel, even though on social media we have seen reports of direct impacts,” Al Jazeera writes. Sirens are sounding in Tel Aviv and across central Israel amid Iran’s retaliatory ballistic missile attack, with the IDF saying its is working to shoot them down. Not much in the way of confirmed images or video have come out of Israel at this point.

Israel has announced it along with the US have targeted Supreme Leader Khamenei and Iranian President Pezeshkian, who are probably at this moment deep in hidden underground bunkers - assuming they survived the major strike on headquarters buildings in Tehran. Israeli officials have said specifically, “We attacked the President of Iran and the Supreme Leader.”

This means Tehran is not going to be ‘restrained’ - as it is in a fight for survival, and will pull out anything it has, particularly the miles of underground ‘missile cities’ it has.

Like with the June war, Iran was engaged in nuclear negotiations at the very moment it suffered major unprovoked attack. It warned that it will hit US and Israeli bases and assets across the region, even if they are hosted in regional or Gulf countries, and that is exactly what is now happening.

Some regional analysts are predicting ‘catastrophic’ consequences on par with the ripple effect of Bush’s 2003 Iraq invasion:

Negar Mortazavi, senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, says Trump is betraying his campaign promises by launching another regime change war in the region.

Mortazavi stressed that conflict could have been averted, saying that negotiations between Washington and Tehran were making progress before the US-Israeli attack.

“This is going to be catastrophic for the United States, for Iranians and for people across the region”, she told Al Jazeera. “As we’ve already seen on day one, the war is spilling over and is harming others.”

Watch: Iranian Shahed appears to hit US naval base in Bahrain...

* * *

One source has compiled a quick initial outline of what the opening salvo looked like:

Bahrain:

Confirmed hit on the US Navy Fifth Fleet headquarters. Bahrain’s own state news agency reported the strike. No casualty figures released yet. This is the command center for every American naval operation in the Persian Gulf. It was struck.

UAE:

Multiple missiles intercepted by Emirati air defenses. One civilian killed in Abu Dhabi from falling debris. The UAE defense ministry confirmed the intercepts. The Emirates just absorbed an act of war on its sovereign territory from a country it shares a maritime border with.

Qatar:

Missile intercepted. Zero damage. The Qatari Interior Ministry confirmed. The same country Iran just attacked is the country that hosted Al Udeid for twenty years as a gesture of regional balance. That balance ended this morning.

Kuwait:

KUNA state news agency confirmed missiles were “dealt with” in Kuwaiti airspace. No reported damage. Kuwait, which stayed neutral through every Gulf crisis since 1991, just had Iranian ballistic missiles flying over its cities.

Jordan:

Two Iranian ballistic missiles shot down by Jordanian military. Confirmed by the Jordanian armed forces directly. Jordan intercepted Iranian missiles in June 2025 as well. That was in defense of Israel. This time Iran targeted Jordan itself.

Saudi Arabia:

Fars News claims strikes. No confirmation from any Saudi source. No Tier 1 or Tier 2 verification. Either it did not happen or Riyadh is not yet ready to say it did. Both possibilities carry enormous implications.

* * *

Prior to the overnight US attack, Saudi Arabia appeared ready to sit on the sidelines and did not want the US to use its airspace, but now with things already in motion it has changed its tune. A longtime enemy and rival to Shia Iran, the kingdom, which is heart of the Sunni establishment, recently made a China-brokered detente with Tehran. But that’s all off at this dire point.

As for tracking the Iranian response, it just fired missiles on at least five countries simultaneously.

Probably Riyadh is calculating that it has no choice but to join the ‘winning’ side, or else face the wrath of Trump. A fresh official Saudi statement says it condemns the “blatant Iranian aggression and a flagrant violation of the sovereignty” of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan. However, no condemnation of the unprovoked attack on Tehran by the US and Israel, of course.

“The kingdom affirms its full solidarity with and unwavering support for the brotherly countries, and its readiness to place all its capabilities at their disposal in support of any measures they may undertake,” it added.

One thing is clear: THE MIDDLE EAST IS BURNING.

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