Iran retaliates with missiles toward Israel, blasts heard in Doha and Dubai; 27 US bases attacked

Jerusalem/Doha/Dubai: Iran unleashed a large-scale missile barrage on Israel Sunday, triggering air raid sirens across central Israel and the occupied West Bank, while explosions were reported in the skies over Doha, Qatar, according to Al Jazeera.

Residents in Doha said they heard at least 11 blasts as the confrontation’s effects extended beyond Israel and Iran.

AFP reporters confirmed additional explosions in Gulf cities, including Dubai in the UAE, Doha, and Manama in Bahrain, following Iran’s retaliatory strikes against US and Israeli targets.

The Israeli military said it was actively working to intercept the incoming missile threats.

IRGC strikes 27 US bases, key Israeli sites in retaliation

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced a sixth wave of attacks across the Middle East, targeting US and Israeli military installations in response to recent US–Israeli strikes on Iran, Iranian state media reported.

According to the IRGC, its forces launched “extensive missile and drone” assaults, hitting 27 US bases as well as key Israeli sites, including the Tel Nof airbase, the Israeli army’s command headquarters at HaKirya in Tel Aviv, and a major defense industrial complex in the city.

The statement added that Iran’s forces will “implement a different and harsh step of revenge, with successive, regrettable slaps,” signaling ongoing escalation in the region.

“Sirens were sounded in several areas across the country, following the identification of missiles launched from Iran toward the State of Israel,” it said, adding that the air force was “operating to intercept and strike threats where necessary”.

Iran’s counterstrikes also hit airports in Dubai and Kuwait, causing minor damage, several injuries and temporary travel disruption following earlier US–Israeli air raids.

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said more than 30 targets in Iran had been struck so far, including aerial defence systems, missile launchers, regime-linked sites and military command centres.

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“ONGOING STRIKE: 30+ targets so far, in western and central Iran, including aerial defense systems, missile launchers, regime targets and military command centers. The IDF will continue to degrade the Iranian terror regime's capabilities until they can no longer threaten our people,” the IDF wrote on X.

Earlier, the military said it had struck a missile launch site in the Qom area of central Iran that stored Ghadr H-1 ballistic missiles.

In a video message, IDF Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said the offensive, dubbed Operation Roaring Lion, followed months of joint planning with the United States.

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“The launch of Operation Roaring Lion comes after months of close and joint planning with the U.S. Armed Forces, a historic, unprecedented level of cooperation between two nations fighting side by side against terror. Our mission could not be more clear. The IDF will continue to act to remove emerging threats against Israel because the price of an action is too high,” he said.

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The escalation follows Iranian state media reports that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in US–Israeli strikes. Tehran has vowed retaliation.

State-run Press TV said the Iranian government warned that the “crime of assassination of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution will not go unpunished” and that the “pure blood of the martyred Leader will uproot the criminal regimes of the US and Israel.”

Iran has announced 40 days of public mourning for Khamenei, with the period holding special significance in Shia Islam as Arba’een, observed on the 40th day after death.