Iran says it struck UAE air base after vow to halt Gulf attacks

Smoke and fire rise from the site of airstrikes at Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran on March 7, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images)

Atta Kenare | Afp | Getty Images

Iran said it struck a U.S. air base in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday, shortly after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country would stop attacking neighboring countries.

Iran’s Tasnim News agency said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ navy drone unit attacked the Al Dhafra air base south of the capital Abu Dhabi.

The UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment. Its Ministry of Defence said in a post on X that it detected 121 unmanned aerial vehicles on Satruday, intercepted 119 of them, “while two fell within the territory of the UAE.”

Pezeshkian said earlier on Saturday that his country does not intend to attack others and apologized to neighbors in the Gulf after a week of retaliatory strikes as the U.S. and Israel maintained their military pressure on Tehran.

But Pezeshkian said the U.S. can “take their dreams to the grave; we will not surrender unconditionally.” Pezeshkian made the statement via Iran’s national news agency’s Telegram social media channel.

“I apologize to the neighboring countries,” Pezeshkian said. “We do not intend to invade other countries. Let us set aside all the disagreements, concerns, and resentments we have toward each other. Today, let us defend our own soil to bring Iran out of this crisis with dignity.”

U.S. President Donald Trump said the apology came after the “relentless U.S. and Israeli attack.”

“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,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social account.

“Today Iran will be hit very hard!” Trump wrote.

U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran continued on Saturday, one week after they launched their joint campaign to rid Tehran of its nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities while also pushing for regime change.

Tehran’s energy-rich neighbors in the Gulf said they intercepted more missiles and drones headed for their airspace from Iran as the country’s president apologized for the attacks.

“U.S. forces have struck over 3,000 targets in the first week of Operation Epic Fury, and we are not slowing down,” U.S. Central Command said in a post on X.

Call to name new supreme leader

Two influential Iranian clerics on Saturday called for the swift selection of a new supreme leader, Iranian media reported.

One of the clerics, Naser Makarem ‌Shirazi, a grand ayatollah who commands a broad following for his religious rulings, said an appointment was needed swiftly to “help better organize the country’s affairs,” state media reported.

The calls suggest that at least some in the clerical establishment are uncomfortable with leaving a three-man council in charge — even temporarily ⁠under constitutional ‌rules — after the killing of Supreme ⁠Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Trump has argued the U.S. should have a role in choosing the new leader, a demand Iran has rejected.

‘Unconditional surrender’

Trump on Friday demanded the unconditional surrender from Iran, raising fears of a prolonged war that could wreak havoc on the global oil and gas market. The war has already brought traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping route for energy supplies, to a near standstill.

Israel’s military said “another wave of attacks in Tehran has been completed”.

“Within the framework of these attacks, Air Force fighter jets launched approximately 230 munitions toward several military sites of the regime,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a Farsi post on X.

The targets included the Central Military University of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a missile storage site and an underground site for storing and producing ballistic missiles, the IDF said.

The strikes involved more than 80 Israeli fighter jets, the IDF said in a separate post.

“These strikes degrade the Iranian regime’s ability to fire at Israeli civilians,” the IDF said.

Gulf region under threat

Countries in the region said they launched air defenses to fend off Iranian attacks.

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defense reported the “interception and destruction of a drone east of Riyadh city”.

The UAE’s biggest city, Dubai, issued an alert urging residents to seek immediate shelter in secure buildings and stay away from windows, doors and open areas.

U.S. crude oil on Friday posted its biggest weekly gain in futures trading history, as the escalating war in the Middle East has triggered a major disruption to global fuel supplies.

U.S. crude soared 35.63% for the biggest weekly gain in the history of the futures contract dating back to 1983. Brent jumped about 28% for its biggest weekly gain since April 2020.

West Texas Intermediate futures surged 12.21%, or $9.89, to close at $90.90 per barrel. Global benchmark Brent rallied 8.52%, or $7.28, to settle at $92.69 per barrel.