Iran widens retaliatory attacks against US targets across the Gulf

Iran widened its retaliatory attacks against American targets across the Gulf early on Tuesday, hours after President Donald Trump signalled that joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran could intensify and continue for weeks.

Explosions were reported on Monday in countries hosting American military bases, including Iraq, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. The US embassy in Riyadh closed on Tuesday after Saudi Arabia said two drones had sparked a fire causing minor damage.

A drone struck the US embassy compound in Kuwait on Monday, according to American officials. The UAE said its air defences were “dealing with a barrage of ballistic missiles” launched from Iran.

There were also reports of attacks on Dubai International Airport, hotels and other civilian and economic sites. Amazon said two of its cloud computing facilities in the UAE had been hit by drones and remained significantly impaired.

Separately, the Israeli military said it was carrying out further strikes in Iran and in Lebanon, targeting command centres and weapons depots belonging to Hezbollah in Beirut. The Iran-backed group said it had launched a “swarm of attack drones” at Israel.

Trump is due to meet German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Washington on Tuesday. Although the meeting had been planned in advance, the escalating conflict is expected to dominate discussions.

Speaking at his first public appearance since the airstrikes began, Trump declined to set a limit on the military campaign. “Whatever the time is, it’s OK, whatever it takes,” he said. In a later social media post, he said the US had a “virtually unlimited” supply of certain weapons and that wars could be fought “forever” using them.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that “the hardest hits are yet to come”.

Iranian leaders struck a defiant tone. Senior official Ali Larijani denied reports that Tehran was seeking talks with Washington and accused Trump of “delusional fantasies”, saying Iran had prepared for a long war.

A senior commander in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said “not a single drop of oil” would pass through the Strait of Hormuz, which carries roughly a fifth of the world’s oil supply. Shipping traffic has slowed sharply since warnings were issued at the weekend.

In a further sign of escalation, Qatar said its air force had shot down two Su-24 bombers approaching from Iran, marking the first reported use of Iranian warplanes against Gulf states in the current conflict.

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