Smoke billows from a skyscraper following a drone attack in Kuwait City on March 8, 2026. The United States and Israel launched attacks against Iran on February 28, prompting swift retaliation by the Islamic Republic, which responded with missile strikes across the region. The war has engulfed world powers, disrupted the world’s energy and transportation sectors, and even disrupted normally peaceful areas of the volatile region.
Kuwait Out | AFP | Getty Images
Gulf states reported further damage to their infrastructure over the weekend as Iran continued its attacks on regional allies in retaliation for continued attacks by U.S. and Israeli forces.
Meanwhile, Iranian media reported that a new leader had been appointed to replace Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a volley at the start of the war.
The United Arab Emirates said it was “addressing the missile and drone threat from Iran.”
“The UAE’s air defense forces are currently responding to missile and drone threats from Iran,” the country’s Ministry of Defense said in a post on X.
He said defense installations were intercepting ballistic missiles while fighter jets were dealing with drones and “loitering munitions.”
Alarms sounded across Dubai and Abu Dhabi on Saturday night, warning residents to “immediately seek safe haven” due to a missile threat, and a CNBC team confirmed hearing loud explosions.
23 Marina, a high-rise building in Dubai’s Marina district, was hit by falling debris. According to the Dubai Media Office, there were no injuries, but authorities confirmed that “debris from an aerial interception fell on a vehicle in Al Barsha area, killing a Pakistani driver.”
Also on Saturday, passengers waiting for flights at Dubai International Airport were directed into a train tunnel. Iran announced that it had attacked an air base in the United Arab Emirates.
Since the war began on February 28, Iran has targeted several radars and air defenses in the Middle East, including Qatar, UAE, Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, in retaliation for US and Israeli attacks, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing US officials, military analysts and commercially available satellite imagery.
Desalination plant attacked
Bahrain announced on Sunday that a drone strike had hit a desalination plant.
“Iran’s aggression has indiscriminately attacked civilians and caused significant damage to a desalination plant following a drone attack,” Bahrain’s Interior Ministry said in a post on X.
Bahrain’s electricity and water authorities said in a statement to CNBC that “Iran’s attack on a desalination plant has not affected the water supply or the capacity of the water network.”
The country said “blatant Iranian aggression” damaged a university building in the Muharraq region and injured three people when missile fragments fell.
Meanwhile, Iran accused the United States of attacking a seawater desalination facility in the country. Foreign Minister Abbas Aragushi said in a social media post that the US “committed a blatant and desperate crime by attacking a desalination plant on Qeshm Island. The water supply of 30 villages has been affected.”
“Attacking Iranian infrastructure is a dangerous act with serious consequences,” Araghchi said.
U.S. Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for Central Command, told MS NOW that Arraguchi’s claims are false.
“The Iranian regime is doing everything it can to spread lies and deceive,” Hawkins said. “This is the same terrorist regime that has attacked 12 countries and continues to intentionally target civilian airports, hotels, and neighborhoods in those countries. The U.S. military is not targeting civilians.”
Fuel depots targeted
Elsewhere, Kuwait announced that two fuel depots at its international airport had been attacked by drones, causing “a major fire in one of them.” The country’s social security agency said its headquarters had been targeted, causing “significant damage” to the building.
Meanwhile, Israeli and US attacks on Iran continued into the weekend.
Israel announced that it had attacked multiple fuel storage facilities belonging to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps. “This attack significantly exacerbated the damage to the Iranian terrorist regime’s military infrastructure,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a post on X.
The IDF also said it had attacked “the main commander of the Lebanese Corps of the Revolutionary Guards Quds Force operating in Beirut.”
Oil production is under pressure
The fighting in the Gulf has caused major disruption to oil markets, effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz, which carries about 20% of the world’s oil production. This bottleneck prevents Gulf countries from exporting oil.
According to Reuters, Iraq’s oil production has fallen by 70% since the start of the war. The country’s production currently stands at about 1.3 million barrels per day, down from about 4.3 million barrels a day before the war. Kuwait, another oil-rich Gulf state, has also cut oil production.
U.S. crude oil soared to more than $91 a barrel, while global benchmark Brent crude soared to more than $92 a barrel. As a result, the average price of gasoline in the U.S. has jumped to more than $3.46 a gallon, up from an average of $2.94 a week ago, according to GasBuddy.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright sought to reassure Americans that rising fuel prices are just a short-term problem, saying the disruption will last “weeks, not months.”
“I believe this is a small price to pay for a world where energy prices return to normal,” Wright said in an interview on “Fox News Sunday.” “Iran is finally free of attack and will now be able to invest more, trade more freely, and be less likely to threaten its energy supplies.”
Iran’s new leader appointed
Iran’s Mehr News Agency quoted Seyyed Ahmad Allam al-Huda as saying on Sunday that elections had been held to replace Khamenei and a new leader had been appointed. No name was given.
“All rumors and news that try to pretend that the expert panel has not yet taken a decision are completely false,” al-Huda was quoted as saying.
Iranian state media reported on Saturday that Iran’s leading clerics have called for the swift selection of a new supreme leader.
One of the clerics, Nasser Makarem Shirazi, a great ayatollah who enjoys a wide following for his religious rule, said he needed an urgent appointment “to better organize the country’s affairs,” state media reported.
According to Reuters, another senior cleric suggested that the late Ayatollah Khamenei’s son Mojtaba could be chosen as his successor.
“The name of Khamenei will live on,” Ayatollah Hosseinari Eshkevari, a member of the clerical council responsible for selecting the new leader, said in a video published in Iranian media.
“Voting is taking place and will be announced shortly,” he said, without providing further details.
Another cleric, Ahmad Alamolhoda, told state media that the council’s secretary, Hosseini Busheri, will announce his replacement.
President Trump has argued that the United States should play a role in choosing a new leader, but Iran has rejected this request. On Sunday, President Trump threatened that Tehran’s new leader would be short-lived without his approval.
“He’s going to have to get our approval,” Trump told ABC News. “If he doesn’t get our confirmation, he won’t have a long term in office. We don’t want to have to come back every 10 years. We can’t do that unless we have a president like me.”
President Trump told ABC that he would not rule out the possibility that someone from the previous administration could take over the country, adding: “There are a lot of people that could be.”
The Israel Defense Forces announced on Sunday that it would “track all successors and all persons seeking to appoint a successor.”
“We would like to warn all of you who are planning to participate in the successor selection meeting that we will not hesitate to target you. This is a warning!” the IDF said in a Farsi-language post to X.
Arab countries condemn Iran attack
Arab foreign ministers on Sunday strongly condemned Iran’s attacks on neighboring countries, calling them a “grave threat to international peace and security.”
In a communiqué following the virtual talks, ministers expressed support for “measures taken by the Gulf states, along with Jordan and Iraq, to deter and respond to these aggressions.”
The ministers called on Iran to immediately halt its attacks and cease “provocations and threats against neighboring countries.” They called on the UN Security Council to condemn Iran and force an “immediate and unconditional cessation of attacks” on Arab countries.
The Ministers also expressed support for the Lebanese government’s efforts to disarm Hezbollah and called on the international community to pressure Israel to immediately end its attacks on Lebanon.
The communiqué does not mention the U.S. and Israeli airstrikes that triggered the war.
Another US soldier dies
U.S. Central Command reported in a post on X that another U.S. service member has been killed in action, bringing the total number of deaths to seven.
More than 1,850 people have been killed since the conflict began. The conflict has left at least 1,330 Iranian civilians dead and more than 100,000 Iranians displaced.
394 people were killed in Lebanon. 15 people died in Israel. Kuwait reported 11 deaths. Four people died in the United Arab Emirates. Three people died in Oman. Two people died in Saudi Arabia. One death was reported in Bahrain, according to figures compiled by MS NOW.
— CNBC’s Terry Cullen, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report
