By Maya Gebeily, Humeyra Pamuk and Alexander Cornwell
BEIRUT/WASHINGTON/TEL AVIV, March 7 (Reuters) – Israel and Iran traded attacks on Saturday as the war entered a second week, while the Islamic Republic made an unusual apology to neighbouring states for its “actions”, apparently seeking to calm regional anger at Iranian strikes on Gulf civilian targets.
“I personally apologise to neighbouring countries that were affected by Iran’s actions,” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said, urging them not to join U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran.
He said Iran’s temporary leadership council had agreed to suspend attacks on nearby states unless strikes on Iran originated from their territory.
Hours later, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said their drones struck a U.S. air combat centre at Al Dhafra Air Base, near Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates. Reuters could not independently verify that report.
Huge explosions were heard in several parts of the Iranian capital, state media reported.
GULF STATES HIT BY DRONES AND MISSILES
The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has already spilled beyond Iran’s borders, as Tehran has responded by hitting Israel and Gulf Arab states hosting U.S. military installations and Israel has launched fresh attacks in Lebanon.
The UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have all reported drone and missile attacks over the past week.
Gulf states voiced immediate outrage that their civilian infrastructure – hotels, ports and oil facilities – were struck despite their having had no part in the U.S.-Israeli attacks.
How far Pezeshkian’s statement reflects a decision to back off by Iran, or if it should be read as a warning that Tehran remains ready to strike across the region, is not yet clear, with some strikes still reportedly directed at Gulf states on Saturday morning.
Iran had mended fences with its Gulf neighbours in recent years, including with former regional arch-rival Saudi Arabia – a diplomatic campaign that imploded as the Revolutionary Guards launched a blitz of drones and missiles over the past week.
NO DEAL WITHOUT SURRENDER, TRUMP SAYS
While Gulf states host U.S. military bases, they had told Washington they would not allow these to be used for any attacks on Iran.
Iran’s apparent strategy of maximum chaos has driven up the costs of the conflict by raising energy prices, hurting global business and logistics links and shaking trust in the stability of a critical region for the world’s economy.
Pezeshkian’s remarks come as diplomatic prospects for an end to hostilities appear bleak, with U.S. President Donald Trump demanding Tehran’s “unconditional surrender”.
“There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Friday.
“After that, and the selection of a GREAT & ACCEPTABLE Leader(s), we, and many of our wonderful and very brave allies and partners, will work tirelessly to bring Iran back from the brink of destruction, making it economically bigger, better, and stronger than ever before,” he added.
The U.S.-Israeli attacks have killed at least 1,332 Iranian civilians and wounded thousands, according to Iran’s U.N. ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani.
Iranian attacks have killed 11 people in Israel, and at least six U.S. service members have been killed.
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences to Pezeshkian over the numerous civilian casualties resulting from “the armed Israeli-American aggression against Iran” and called for an immediate halt to hostilities, the Kremlin said.
‘WE WILL CRUSH THEM’
Early on Saturday, the Iranian army said its navy had carried out drone strikes against targets in Israel as well as U.S. gathering points and bases in Abu Dhabi and Kuwait, in an apparent response to the U.S. attack on its ship IRIS Dena that killed dozens of sailors.
The Revolutionary Guards said they struck three positions of separatist groups in Iraq’s Kurdistan region at 4:30 a.m. local time. A spokesman for the armed forces warned that if separatist groups in the Kurdistan region took any action against Iran’s territorial integrity, “we will crush them.”
Israel’s military carried out a rare airborne operation that dropped troops into a town in eastern Lebanon overnight, residents and Lebanese state media said on Saturday, as heavy Israeli strikes on the area left more than a dozen people dead.
Israel said the operation sought to retrieve the remains of Ron Arad, an Israeli air force navigator who bailed out of a plane that went down over Lebanon during a 1986 bombing mission. The military said no findings related to Arad were found.
Israel launched what its military described as a new wave of strikes on Tehran and Isfahan, while overnight, the Israeli military said it had carried out strikes on neighbouring Lebanon that it said were aimed at Hezbollah military sites.
The Israeli military said Iran had fired six separate missile barrages at Israel, setting off air raid sirens in parts of the country and prompting Israeli air defences to intercept incoming fire.
IRAN REJECTS TRUMP CALL FOR SAY IN CHOOSING NEW LEADER
The war has roiled global markets and oil prices have hit multi-year highs with the Strait of Hormuz effectively shut. About one-fifth of global oil moves daily through the strait.
Washington will provide reinsurance for losses up to $20 billion in the Gulf region to bolster confidence for oil and gas shippers, the U.S. International Development Finance Corp said.
Trump has said the U.S. Navy could escort ships in the Gulf. But Iran’s Revolutionary Guards challenged him to do so, with spokesperson Alimohammad Naini saying Iran “welcomes” and is “awaiting” any U.S. presence in the strait, state media said.
Trump also reiterated his demand to have a say in selecting Iran’s new supreme leader, a notion rejected by Iravani.
The ambassador said new leadership would be selected “in accordance with our constitutional procedures and solely by the will of the Iranian people – without any foreign interference.”
Iran has described the conflict as an unprovoked attack and the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as an assassination.
(Reporting by Maya Gebeily in Beirut, Humeyra Pamuk in Washington, Pesha Magid in Jerusalem and Reuters bureaux; Writing by Himani Sarkar and William Maclean; Editing by William Mallard and Alex Richardson)
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