Iran has targeted United States assets across the Gulf Arab states in retaliation for a huge joint attack on Iran by the US and Israel, as the region’s worst fears of being ignited in the flames of a sustained war loom.

The Iranian government on Saturday confirmed its attacks on several targets, according to the Fars news agency, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, where airbases with US assets are hosted.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed all Israeli and US military targets in the Middle East have been struck “by the powerful blows of Iranian missiles”.

“This operation will continue relentlessly until the enemy is decisively defeated,” it said. All US assets throughout the region are considered legitimate targets for Iran’s army, it added.

Iran’s deputy Foreign Minister Hamid Ghanbari told Al Jazeera that Iran has the right to defend itself and regrets any humanitarian loss caused by the current military escalation.

At least one person was killed in Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital, after several missiles launched from Iran were intercepted, according to the country’s state news agency.

Bahrain said a missile attack targeted the headquarters of the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, which it hosts.

The government called it a “treacherous attack” and “a blatant violation of the kingdom’s sovereignty and security”.

Kuwait’s Defence Ministry said that Ali al-Salem Air Base came under attack by a number of ballistic missiles, all of which were intercepted by Kuwaiti air defence systems.

In Qatar, the Defense Ministry says it “thwarted” several attacks on the country.

“The Ministry of Defense confirms that the threat was dealt with immediately upon detection, in accordance with the pre-approved security plan, and that all missiles were intercepted before reaching Qatari territory,” it said.

Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and the UAE all temporarily closed their airspaces and condemned Iran’s attacks on their territories.

An Al Jazeera correspondent reported that Erbil Airport in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq was targeted twice on Saturday. A drone attack attempted to target Erbil International Airport, but air defences intercepted and shot it down, they added.

Syrian state media reported that a missile explosion killed four people and injured numerous others in an industrial area of Suwayda, without noting the source of the missile.

Al Jazeera’s Zein Basravi, reporting from Doha, said the only country in the Gulf Cooperation Council that Iran has not struck today thus far is Oman.

Oman has for years served as a liaison between Iran and other nations in the region and beyond. It has played a central role in recent indirect talks between Iran and the US in Oman and Geneva.

Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi on Friday had voiced optimism that peace was “within reach” as Iran had agreed during the talks never to stockpile enriched uranium. Badr bin Hamad al-Busaidi described the development as a major breakthrough. Hours later, Israel and the US attacked, and those talks are now dead and buried.

Albusaidi expressed “dismay” at the outbreak of violence and urged Washington to “not get sucked in further” into the conflict. “This is not your war,” he said.

The GCC is an alliance of six countries in the Arabian Peninsula: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, established in 1981 to promote economic, security, cultural and social cooperation.

“Here in Doha, in the last few hours, we’ve heard at least a dozen explosions. The majority of them sound like they were Patriot defence missiles intercepting incoming Iran missiles,” Basravi said.

“As far as Iran is concerned, with the US and Israel firing the first shot in this latest go-round, everything is now probably fair game,” he added. (Al Jazeera)

Update news