Iran’s retaliatory strikes led to loud explosions in Dubai and across the Gulf. Escalating tensions in the Middle East led to the closure of airspace. With major airports closed, air travel was significantly disrupted, leaving thousands of passengers stranded.
The Middle East has teetered into a wider conflict as Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched a “massive” sixth wave of missile and drone attacks targeting US and Israeli assets across the Gulf. With major hubs like Dubai and Doha under fire, and President Donald Trump threatening “unprecedented force” in response, the escalation has grounded over 90% of regional flights and shuttered the world’s busiest international airport.
According to Reuters, residents in Dubai heard multiple loud bangs early Sunday morning. Reports from AFP and Al Jazeera confirmed fresh blasts across the Gulf, including in Doha, Qatar, and Manama, Bahrain. At least 11 explosions were reported in the skies above the Qatari capital. Sirens blared in Kuwait and Israel as the Iranian retaliatory attacks continued.
Key locations across the UAE that were targeted by Iranian missile strikes and drones on Saturday included Jebel Ali Port, Burj Al Arab, Dubai’s famed Palm Jumeirah hotel and Dubai International Airport.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said that it is carrying out its ‘most intense’ offensive yet on United States and Israeli bases in the Middle East, Reuters reported, citing state media.
According to Iranian state media, the IRGC launched a sixth wave of retaliatory attacks today involving “extensive missile and drone” attacks on 27 US bases, and Israel’s Tel Nof airbase, army command headquarters at HaKirya in Tel Aviv, and a defence industrial complex in the capital city, Al Jazeera reported.
Hours after US President Donald Trump confirmed that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in an air strike, Israel said it launched another wave of strikes on Iran on Sunday, Reuters reported.
Trump threatened Iran on Sunday not to escalate its attacks through a post on Truth Social. “Iran just stated that they are going to hit very hard today, harder than they have ever hit before. THEY BETTER NOT DO THAT, HOWEVER, BECAUSE IF THEY DO, WE WILL HIT THEM WITH A FORCE THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE!” he wrote.
Airports shut, flights cancelled
Scores of flights were disrupted in the wake of the escalating tensions in the Middle East, with thousands stranded after Dubai’s main airport, the world’s busiest aviation hub, announced closure. After an aerial strike on Saturday, Dubai airport authorities suspended operations.
On Saturday, more than 2,300 flights were cancelled across the region, from Bahrain to Tel Aviv. Over 90% of departures from Dubai International Airport were halted, according to FlightAware data. The air travel disruption continued on Monday morning as Emirates cancelled 87% of its scheduled flights, FlyDubai cancelled 89%, Etihad reported 67% cancellations, Gulf Air saw 79% cancellations, and Qatar Airways cancelled 36% of its flights.
With Dubai, Doha, and Abu Dhabi serving as superconnectors, the impact of air travel disruptions in the Middle East was far-reaching. Indian airlines cancelled nearly 410 flights, and 444 are expected to be cancelled on Sunday, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said.
IndiGo, Air India, Air India Express, and SpiceJet issued travel alerts, informing passengers about flight disruptions due to the prevailing airspace closure over the Middle East, impacting international flights.
