A building in the Iraqi capital Baghdad caught fire after being hit by three consecutive attacks on Saturday night. Reports of what was hit are mixed. The BBC reported that a US diplomatic building caught fire, and a video showed black smoke and flames rising into the sky.
An Iraqi spokesman said a drone hit the intelligence headquarters in the Mansur district this morning local time, killing at least one officer, according to AFP.
An armed Iranian-backed group has claimed responsibility for several of the attacks. The group is designated a terrorist organization by Washington and is considered part of a larger umbrella organization known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq.
Distant base target
The war expanded even further geographically when two missiles were fired from Iran at the British-American military base on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, about 400 miles away, The Wall Street Journal reports. Neither reached its target.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz says strikes on Iran will increase significantly in the coming week, just hours after US President Donald Trump suggested he was considering scaling back the operation.
Israel and Iran have attacked each other overnight. The Israeli military has repeatedly urged people to seek shelter due to incoming missiles from Iran.
New Iranian attacks on Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have been confirmed by the respective countries, with no reports of damage to people or infrastructure. The Saudi defense ministry said 20 drones were shot down over a couple of hours in the eastern part of the country, where major oil facilities are located, according to the AP.
Threatens the United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates has also been attacked, and Iran has issued a stark warning to the country.
The Iranian military, according to state media, says “further aggression” against two disputed islands located between the countries will be met with attacks on Ras al-Khaimah. It is unclear what type of aggression is meant.
Ras al-Khaimah is located in the emirate of the same name and is the closest city on the Emirati mainland to the islands. Both Iran and the United Arab Emirates claim the islands, which are strategically important for oil traffic in the Persian Gulf.
Corrected: In a previous version, the wrong emirate was stated for the city of Ras al-Khaimah.
