Trump says ‘Today Iran shall be hit very exhausting’ and dubs them ‘The Loser of The Middle East’ as Tehran hits Dubai airport then apologises for assaults: Live updates
US President Donald Trump has said that Iran ‘will be hit very hard’ today and dubbed the country the ‘loser of the Middle East’, after Dubai Airport was evacuated following an Iranian drone attack.
In a statement on Truth Social, Trump hit out at Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkia, who earlier claimed that attacks against its Gulf neighbours would stop – only to be contradicted by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards hours later.
Pezeshkian today described the US demand for an ‘unconditional surrender’ as a ‘dream’ in a statement on Saturday in which he also apologised for striking neighbouring countries – although attacks show no sign of stopping.
The comments came as intense Iranian fire targeted the Gulf Arab states on Saturday morning as Israel and the United States kept up their air strikes targeting the Islamic Republic.
There were repeated attacks on Saturday morning on Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Breaking:Donald Trump vows Iran will be ‘hit very hard’ TODAY
US President Donald Trump has said that Iran will be ‘hit very hard’ by US-Israeli attacks today as he claimed the country is being ‘beat to hell’.
Hitting out at comments by the Iranian President, who claimed that attacks on Gulf neighbours would stop (only for the IRGC to contradict him hours later) Trump said the statement was only made due to ‘relentless’ attacks.
In a post on Truth Social he said: ‘Iran, which is being beat to HELL, has apologized and surrendered to its Middle East neighbors, and promised that it will not shoot at them anymore.
‘This promise was only made because of the relentless U.S. and Israeli attack. They were looking to take over and rule the Middle East. It is the first time that Iran has ever lost, in thousands of years, to surrounding Middle Eastern Countries.’
He added:
Today Iran will be hit very hard!
Under serious consideration for complete destruction and certain death, because of Iran’s bad behavior, are areas and groups of people that were not considered for targeting up until this moment in time.
Moment Iran hits Dubai Airport in suicide drone attack
Video footage has captured the moment that Iran hit Dubai Airport in a suicide drone attack.
The drone can be seen travelling through clear skies before disappearing from view.
A huge cloud of smoke can then be seen erupting as the drone makes impact.
The attack caused the entire airport to be evacuated and all operations to be suspended. A fire was reported at Terminal 3.
Watch: Fire and plumes of smoke seen at Tehran airport
IRGC declares all US-Israeli assets ‘primary targets’
In direct contradiction to the Iranian’s President’s pledge to stop attacking its Gulf neighbours, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) has reiterated that all US and Israeli assets in the Middle East will be ‘primary targets’ unless strikes stop.
In a statement broadcast by Iranian state media, a spokesperson said:
Following the statements of the president, the armed forces once again declare that they respect the interests and national sovereignty of neighbouring countries and, up to this point, have committed no aggression against them
However, should the previous hostile actions continue, all military bases and interests of criminal America and the fake Zionist regime on land, at sea, and in the air across the region will be considered primary targets and will come under the powerful and crushing strikes of the mighty armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
UN coordinator urges talks between Israel and Lebanon, warning conflict will ‘get even worse’
The United Nations special coordinator for Lebanon on Saturday urged Lebanon and Israel to enter talks to negotiate an end hostilities after the outbreak of a renewed Israel-Hezbollah war.
‘As bad as things are today, they are set to get even worse,’ Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said.
‘Talks between Lebanon and Israel can be the game changer needed to save future generations from going, time and again, through the same nightmare’.
Lebanon was engulfed by the expanding Middle East war on Monday, after Hezbollah fired missiles at Israel to avenge the death of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli attacks on Iran.
At least 217 people have been killed and 300,000 displaced in Lebanon since last Saturday.
Sirens sound in Jerusalem as Iran strikes Israel
Air raid sirens sounded in Jerusalem on Saturday as strikes by Iran continued.
Explosions were heard in the skies shortly after the military said its air defence was working to intercept projectiles from Iran.
The Israeli authorities gave the all clear shortly afterwards and the country’s first responders agency Magen David Adom said no injuries were reported in the immediate aftermath.
The Israeli military said it detected 11 launches from Iran towards Israel in the past 24 hours.
Army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said on Friday that there had been a ‘real decrease’ in the number of launches from Iran after almost a week of barrages.
Iran targets US military bases in UAE and Kuwait
Iran’s army said Saturday its navy had launched a wave of drone attacks targeting Israel as well as US bases in the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.
‘The Iranian Navy targeted American bases and occupied territories with a massive wave of drone attacks,’ the army said in a statement carried by the official IRNA news agency.
It said the targets included the UAE’s Al-Minhad base and another in Kuwait, as well as a ‘strategic facility’ in Israel.
Later, the Revolutionary Guards said their forces also targeted Al-Dhafra air base in the UAE.
‘In this attack, the American terrorists’ air warfare centre, satellite communication centre, early warning radars, and fire control radars were hit,’ the Guards said in a statement, according to Iranian news agency Tasnim.
It comes after Iranian President earlier said attacks on regional neighbours would end unless they themselves attacked Iran.
(Pictured: A map showing some of the US assets in the Middle East which have been targeted over the past week).
‘Huge explosions’ in Iran as smoke dominates Tehran skyline
Strikes are continuing in Iran this morning with ‘huge explosions’ reported by Iranian state media.
Earlier, the IDF confirmed it was launching a new wave of attacks in Iran and Lebanon.
Images showed large plumes of smoke rising into the sky over the capital, and Iran has continued its own airstrikes today. Authorities claimed on Saturday to have targeted a US Air combat centre at the Al Dharfra military base in the UAE.
A short while ago, Iranian state media said that ‘huge explosions’ had been heard in several parts of the country.
By James Gordon
An aviation influencer who told viewers he was trapped overseas by Middle East flight chaos is facing online ridicule after it emerged he remains stranded because he refuses to take an economy seat.
Airline reviewer Daniel Goz, better known online as Nonstop Dan, posted a video telling his more than one million subscribers that he was unable to return to Europe from Singapore following widespread airspace disruptions tied to the war in Iran.
The original title of his video proclaimed: ‘There Are No Flights Left’ and featured Goz stating that he was ‘stranded in Asia.’
But midway through the video he showed a graphic of upcoming flights and conceded that ‘there are a few seats on some days in economy.’
Viewers immediately seized on the moment and flooded his comments to point out that many flights are available, just not in his desired cabin.
A week on, internet blackout remains in Iran
A week on from the start of the conflict in the Middle East, Iranian authorities are still maintaining a near-total internet blackout for citizens.
Iran frequently limits access to the internet in the country, which prevents news from the country getting out, and news from the outside world getting in.
According to internet monitor NetBlocks, the outage has now lasted around 170 hours.
The last time Iran shut off the internet for days at a time was during widespread protests in the country in January, during which it is estimated thousands were killed by security forces.
Watch: Beirut suburb left in ruins after Iranian airstrikes
Three more American bombers arrive at British RAF base
Three more US bomber jets have been spotted landing at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire on Saturday morning.
The US Airforce Rockwell B-1 Lancer was seen coming into the runway amid light mist after the first plane arrived last night.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer is allowing the US to use British bases, including RAF Fairford and Diego Garcia, to launch ‘defensive’ strikes against Iranian missile sites while stating the UK would not join ‘offensive’ combat.