Iran attacked commercial ships across the Persian Gulf and Dubai International Airport on Wednesday.
Two Iranian drones hit near Dubai International Airport, home to the long-haul carrier Emirates and the world's busiest for international travel. Four people were wounded, but flights continued, the Dubai Media Office reported.
Iran's joint military command announced it would start targeting banks and financial institutions in the Middle East, a threat that would put at risk, particularly Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, which is home to many international financial institutions, as well as Saudi Arabia and the island kingdom of Bahrain.
Earlier, a projectile hit a container ship off the coast of Oman in the Strait of Hormuz, setting it ablaze and forcing most of the crew to abandon the vessel, the British military said.
Kuwait said its defences downed eight Iranian drones, and Saudi Arabia said it intercepted five drones heading toward the kingdom's Shaybah oil field.
Iran has effectively stopped cargo traffic in the narrow strait through which about a fifth of all oil is shipped from the Persian Gulf toward the Indian Ocean. It has also targeted oil fields and refineries in Gulf Arab nations, aiming at generating enough global economic pain to pressure the United States and Israel to end their strikes.
The U.N. Security Council was to vote later Wednesday on a resolution sponsored by the Gulf Cooperation Council demanding Iran stop attacking its Arab neighbors.
Israel said it renewed attacks on Tehran, Iran's capital, following multiple strikes Tuesday that residents described as some of the heaviest during the war. Explosions were also heard in Beirut and in southern Lebanon after Israel said it was hitting targets connected to the Iran-linked militant Hezbollah group.
Fresh attacks by Israel on Lebanon —
The attacks set a building ablaze in central Beirut's densely populated Aicha Bakkar area, engulfing the top two floors. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Other Israeli strikes on southern and eastern Lebanon killed 14 people, and a Red Cross worker also died Wednesday of wounds sustained Monday, when his team was hit by an Israeli strike while they were rescuing people from an earlier attack.
Over 500 people have been killed so far in Lebanon since Hezbollah triggered the latest round of fighting with Israel after the American and Israeli attacks on Iran started.
Israel warned of three Iranian attacks early Wednesday, with sirens heard in Tel Aviv and elsewhere, but no immediate reports of casualties. Saudi Arabia said it had destroyed six ballistic missiles launched toward Prince Sultan Air Base, a major US- and Saudi-operated facility and intercepted two drones over the eastern city of Hafar al-Batin.
In the Strait of Hormuz north of Oman, a cargo ship was hit with a projectile and set on fire, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre, run by the British military.
The centre also reported an attack on a container ship off the United Arab Emirates, saying the “extent of the damage is currently unknown but under investigation by the crew.” Another ship was hit by a projectile in the Persian Gulf, it said. The crew was reported safe.
The ship attacks follow intense American airstrikes targeting Iranian navy assets and the port city of Bandar Abbas on Tuesday.
Speculation over the health of Iran's new supreme leader grows—
Concerns are growing over the health of Iran's new Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, after comments about him “being injured.” The 56-year-old Khamenei — the son of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — has not been seen since becoming the supreme leader on Monday. His father and wife were both killed in an Israeli airstrike on the first day of the conflict.
Many foreign nationals have been getting out of the Persian Gulf region since the war began, including over 45,000 UK citizens, the British Foreign Office said. Some 40,000 people returned to the United States, according to the State Department.
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