Main points
- Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian, who has apologised for strikes on neighbouring Gulf countries, rejected US president Donald Trump’s call for Iran’s “unconditional surrender”
- In response, Trump said Iran would be “hit very hard” on Saturday, adding that the US had knocked out more than 40 Iranian naval vessels
- Israel has continued a fresh “broad wave of strikes” against Iranian infrastructure targets and killed dozens in air strikes in Lebanon
- Death tolls elsewhere across the Gulf region as a result of the conflict have continued to rise
- A projectile struck very close to Dubai International Airport in the UAE, delaying a Dublin-bound flight
- A separate Irish Government charter flight to assist citizens in the Gulf region departed Oman earlier on Saturday
Key reads
- Nobody knows when the Iran war will end because nobody, including Trump, can say why it started
- David McWilliams: Why Ireland is exceptionally exposed to an oil shock from the Gulf war
- What will the war in the Middle East mean for Irish consumers? Conor Pope takes a look
Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu said in a televised address that Israel “still has many more targets” to strike in Iran “to destabilise the regime and allow for change,” appearing to suggest that there was no immediate end in sight to the war as it entered its second week.
“We are continuing at full power,” he told the Israeli public.
He repeated a slogan that has become a touchstone for him since the October 7th, 2023, Hamas attacks on southern Israel that incited the crisis of the past 2½ years: “We are changing the face of the Middle East.” – New York Times
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araqchi said on Saturday he is in constant contact with his Saudi counterpart and Saudi officials.
Saudi officials said they were fully committed to not letting their territory, water and airspace be used against Iran, he said in an interview relayed by his Telegram channel. – Reuters
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in a statement that it had launched another wave of attacks on American and Israeli targets, including ballistic attacks on Haifa, Israel, and drone attacks on Dubai’s marina area where it said US troops were stationed.
The statement said a structure belonging to “Warner Brothers” was also attacked in Dubai and the Guards naval forces had attacked US military warehouses in the Salman Port of Bahrain.
This comes as Dubai authorities confirm two incidents – one where smoke was seen coming from the upper floors of a residential tower in the marina area and a second where a person was killed as a result of debris falling on a vehicle after an “aerial interception” in the Al Barsha area. – Additional reporting: New York Times
More than 150 Iranian nationals, including diplomats and their families, left Lebanon on Saturday, a senior Lebanese security source told Reuters, after an Israeli military spokesperson threatened “representatives” of Iran in Lebanon.
The security source said they were being flown to Russia on a Russian plane, and that another 20 Iranians had left on Friday following the start of a new war between Lebanese armed group Hizbullah and Israel.
An Israeli military spokesperson on Tuesday told representatives of the Iranian government “still in Lebanon to leave immediately before they are targeted.” – Reuters
The New York Times reports Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the Iranian parliamentary speaker, pushed back against the Iranian president’s apology to the Gulf states earlier on Saturday.
The speaker said in a post on social media that as long as they were hosting US bases, “the countries will not enjoy peace”.
Both Qatar and the UAE host US bases.
In a thread of posts on X earlier on Saturday, Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian said: “We have targeted U.S. military bases, facilities, and installations in the region.”
UAE responding to Iranian missiles and drones
In a fresh statement, the UAE’s ministry of defence has said it responding to “incoming missile and drone threats from Iran”.
Former president Mary Robinson has accused Donald Trump’s US administration of “flooding the atmosphere with lies”.
She was speaking at an International Women’s Day rally in Belfast, at which there were loud cheers for a number of speakers who called for an end to the conflict in Iran.
“We have an administration in the United States which is flooding the atmosphere with lies, not to be believed, but to confuse, to confuse that there is no truth,” Robinson said. “Truth is our relations with each other ... we must flourish together.”
Robinson spoke at the rally alongside Iranian human rights activist and academic Azadeh Sobout, Helen Crickard from Reclaim the Agenda and Aoife Nic An Tuile from Youth Action.
Read the full story.
US bombers arrive at UK airbase for ‘specific defensive operations’ in Iran
Four US bombers have landed at an RAF base in Britain to carry out “specific defensive operations” to stop Iran firing missiles into the Middle East, the UK’s ministry of defence has said.
The B-1 Lancers, which are 45m long and capable of carrying 24 cruise missiles, arrived at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, one on Friday evening and three on Saturday morning, after British prime minister Keir Starmer had granted permission for “defensive” US action against Iranian missile sites from UK bases.
The deployment comes days after Washington warned that strikes on Iran would “surge dramatically”.
The UK’s armed forces chief, Richard Knighton, said he expected the US to launch missions from the Gloucestershire base “within the next few days”. Starmer agreed on Sunday to allow the US to strike Iran defensively from Fairford and from Diego Garcia, the largest of the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean.
On Saturday afternoon, the ministry issued an update on its operations in the Middle East, which said the US had “started using British bases for specific defensive operations to prevent Iran firing missiles into the region”.
It added that a Merlin helicopter, a class of craft previously described by the ministry as a “submarine hunter”, was on the way to the Middle East to provide “additional airborne surveillance”. – The Guardian
In a very brief statement on X, the Qatari ministry of defence said it has intercepted a missile attack aimed at the country.
The statement does not say where the attack originated from.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards targeted US forces at a base in Bahrain, the Iranian state media has said. Blasts were also heard in Doha, a Reuters witness said. – Reuters
The day so far: Eight things you need to know
- US president Donald Trump said Iran would be “hit very hard” and took Tehran’s apology to neighbouring countries for striking them as a surrender. Trump also said the US had knocked out 42 Iranian navy ships in three days.
- Israel’s military on Saturday morning said its air force had begun a further “broad wave of strikes” against infrastructure targets in Iran after a night of heavy bombardment.
- Israeli air strikes in eastern Lebanon have killed dozens of people amid an Israeli ground incursion against Iran-backed Hizbullah militants.
- Hizbullah warned residents of an Israeli city near the Lebanese border to evacuate to the south without specifying what action it planned to take.
- Death tolls across the region have risen: at least 1,332 civilians have died and thousands have been wounded in Iran, more than 20 people have been killed in Lebanon, 10 people have been killed in Israel and at least six US service members have died.
- The president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said his country is “no easy prey” in his first public comments since it was targeted by Iranian strikes.
- A projectile struck near Dubai International Airport in the UAE, delaying a Dublin-bound flight which was due to land at 6.55pm but is not now expected until 1am on Sunday.
- A Government chartered flight to assist Irish citizens in the region departed Oman shortly after 1pm.
Earlier on Saturday, Hizbullah warned residents of a northern Israeli city near the border with Lebanon to evacuate and head south.
Hizbullah did not specify what action, if any, it planned to take against the city, which lies only a few kilometres from the border.
“Warning. All residents of Kiryat Shmona are asked to evacuate immediately. Head south,” it said in a statement.
Lebanon was pulled into the widening US-Israel war with Iran on Monday after Hizbullah, an Iranian-aligned group, fired rockets and drones into Israel. Israel has responded with heavy strikes across Lebanon’s south, east and near Beirut.
Tens of thousands of Israelis living in the north evacuated their homes after war broke out in Gaza between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas in 2023, as Hizbullah began firing rockets and other projectiles at northern communities.
Residents returned after a November 2024 ceasefire between Israel and Hizbullah. Israeli defence minister Israel Katz has this week repeatedly urged Israelis in the north to remain in their homes, saying the military will protect them. – Reuters
UAE ‘no easy prey’, says president
The president of the United Arab Emirates said his nation was in a time of war but was well and told his enemies it was no easy prey, in his first public comments since Iran launched missiles at its Gulf neighbour amid US-Israeli strikes.
“The UAE has thick skin and bitter flesh – we are no easy prey,” Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who is also ruler of Abu Dhabi, said in comments, made on Friday when visiting those injured in strikes, aired on Abu Dhabi TV on Saturday.
“We will carry out our duty towards our country, our people, and our residents who are also part of our family,” he said.
The UAE, which consists of seven emirates including Dubai, would protect everyone in the country, he said. – Reuters
Death tolls mount
Death tolls continued to rise on Saturday.
The US-Israeli attacks have killed at least 1,332 Iranian civilians and wounded thousands, according to Iran’s UN ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani.
Iranian attacks have killed 10 people in Israel, and at least six US service members have been killed. – Reuters/AP
A Dublin-bound Emirates flight which had been due to depart from Dubai International Airport on Saturday morning has been delayed again. The airport’s online departures site now shows an advised flight time of after 4pm Irish time.
Israeli air strikes kill dozens in eastern Lebanon
An Israeli operation in eastern Lebanon to locate the remains of a famous IDF pilot ended in failure overnight, when the commandos were caught in a gunfight with Hizbullah and local residents, leading Israeli jets to pummel the area with air strikes that killed dozens of people.
The fighting left three Lebanese soldiers and 41 residents of the Bekaa valley dead, according to the Lebanese army and ministry of health. No injuries were reported among the Israeli soldiers.
Two Israeli helicopters landed outside the towns of Nabi Chit and Khraibeh along the Syrian-Lebanese border in the eastern Bekaa valley at 10pm on Friday night, dropping off Israeli soldiers, according to the Lebanese army. The Israeli soldiers headed to a cemetery in Nabi Chit, and began to dig up a grave, where they suspected the remains of Ron Arad, an Israeli pilot who went missing in Lebanon in 1986, were held.
The Lebanese army detected the incursion and launched flares over the Israeli helicopters, a Lebanese army statement said, leading to a gun battle between Israeli forces, local residents and Hizbullah fighters.
Pro-Iran group Hizbullah claimed it also observed the Israeli helicopters touching down, and that its fighters ambushed the soldiers outside the cemetery, supported by the residents of the area. The Israeli military launched at least 40 air strikes on the town while its soldiers on the ground fought local residents and Hizbullah, with fighting lasting until 3am, according to the Lebanese army.
Videos of the incident showed gunfire, with a constant stream of tracer bullets flying through the air, and residents calling for people from other villages to come and assist repel the Israelis. Residents of the eastern Bekaa are heavily armed and many support Hizbullah.
Several buildings in the town of Nabi Chit were levelled, a main road was rendered inaccessible and a huge crater was left by the Israeli air strikes. – The Guardian
US president Donald Trump said on Saturday the US has knocked out 42 Iranian navy ships in three days.
Earlier on Saturday, the Iranian revolutionary guards said they hit a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, state media reported. – Reuters
Cian O’Connell reports:
More than 100 people gathered at an event celebrating the death of Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on O’Connell Street in Dublin this afternoon.
Advertised as a protest, the gathering was organised by a group called Freedom for Iran Dublin.
Among the Iranian flags that were held aloft near the Spire were Irish tricolours and American stars and stripes. Placards were held in support of Reza Pahlavi, the long-exiled, US-based son of Iran’s last shah, who protesters view as the prime candidate to lead a transition to a democratic Iranian state.
One sign bearing Pahlavi’s image read “Make Iran Great Again”. The group has been active online and protesting since January, when thousands of people were killed during Iran’s crackdown on widespread, anti-regime protests.
A planned Emirates flight from Dubai to Dublin on Saturday has been delayed again. The flight was initially due to take off shortly after 10am Irish time, but was delayed until 2pm. The take off time is now being listed by Dubai International Airport as 3.30pm Irish time. It is due into Dublin about 11.10pm
Meanwhile the Government’s first chartered flight from the Middle East is due to touchdown in Dublin later on Saturday.
The flight which is to transport 300 people who are vulnerable, such as children and people with medical needs, is to make one stop in Cairo.
It is due to arrive at Dublin Airport late on Saturday night.
It was chartered to bring stranded, vulnerable Irish citizens home amid escalating scenes in hostilities between Iran and Israel and the United States.
Three Emirates flights have taken hundreds of Irish citizens from Dubai to Dublin this week.
Other Irish people have managed to get indirect flights to Ireland from Abu Dhabi or Dubai through London or Paris. – Additional reporting: PA
US secretary of defence Pete Hegseth has downplayed reports Russia is sharing intelligence with Iran.
The Washington Post was first to report that Russia is passing information on the locations of US bases in the region.
The paper said three unnamed intelligence officials had revealed Russia passed Iran the locations of US military assets, including warships and aircraft as well as air bases.
Hegseth said the United States is “not concerned” about the reports, also downplaying the possibility that Russia’s assistance could be putting US citizens in harm’s way.
“The American people can rest assured their commander-in-chief is well aware of who’s talking to who,” Hegseth said.
“And anything that shouldn’t be happening, whether it’s in public or back-channelled, is being confronted and confronted strongly,” he said.
The Government’s charter flight to assist citizens in the Gulf region has departed Oman, a spokeswoman for Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee has said. It will make one stop in Cairo and is due to arrive in Dublin later tonight. There are 194 passengers on board the plane, which has capacity for 280 people.
An Emirates flight from Dubai to Dublin, initially scheduled to take off at 10.35am Irish Time, has now been delayed until 2pm Irish time, according to Dubai International Airport’s flight information. Dublin Airport’s online flight information has scheduled the flight to arrive at 9.45pm.
Dubai’s Emirates plans to resume operations after flights were temporarily suspended on Saturday, following disruptions caused by a projectile which struck very close to Dubai International Airport.
The projectile appears to be debris from an intercepted Iranian missile.
An Emirates flight to Dublin, delayed from earlier Saturday morning, is due to take off from Dubai at 1pm Irish time.
About 30 minutes after it closed check in and told passengers not to go to the airport, the carrier said it will resume operations and travellers with confirmed bookings could proceed to the airport, Bloomberg reports.
Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest hub for long-haul travel, also temporarily suspended operations.
The events come a day after Dubai’s flag carrier said it will return to full network operations in coming days, following a weeklong hiatus prompted by attacks from Iran. The persistent threats show the scale of challenges facing the carrier as it looks to resume flights.
Trump said Iran would be “hit very hard” on Saturday and that he was considering widening the areas and groups of people being, targeted, without providing details.
“Today Iran will be hit very hard! Under serious consideration for complete destruction and certain death, because of Iran’s bad behaviour, are areas and groups of people that were not considered for targeting until this moment in time” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
He also noted that Iran had apologised to its neighbours for its strikes against them, which he cast as a surrender. – Reuters
A projectile has struck very close to Dubai International Airport in the UAE, with some damage to airport facilities.
A Dublin-bound Emirates flight due to take off from the airport at 9.45am Irish time has been delayed until 1pm
The airport had partially reopened for traffic on Saturday morning when Dubai airline Emirates said it was temporarily suspending flights “for the safety of passengers, airport staff and airline crew.”
The online live arrivals and departures board at the airport still shows flights are taking off and landing.
Video footage showing a projectile and explosion at the airport has been verified by the BBC.
Official Dubai Government social media posts said there was “no incident” at the airport, but added “a minor incident resulting from the fall of debris after an interception [of an incoming missile] has been successfully contained.”
Petrol and diesel prices will hit €2 a litre soon, leading bus operator Brendan Crowley of Wexford Bus has said. Crowley, who is also vice-chairman of the Coach Tourism and Transport Council of Ireland, said prices were increasing daily and “at the rate we’re going, €2 per litre is not terribly far away”.
Fuel prices in Europe are at their highest levels in three years with more upheaval likely, as the effects of attacks and shutdowns at some of the world’s busiest logistics hubs trickle through the global trade system.
Conor Pope took a closer look at how the war could impact Irish consumers: What will the war in the Middle East mean for Irish consumers? From heating bills to mortgages
Air strikes are continuing on Gulf states. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it launched retaliatory strikes against a US air combat centre and satellite communications hub at the Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday.
The Israeli military said its air force has begun another “broad wave of strikes” against infrastructural targets in Iran.
The announcement by the Israel Defense Forces follows a night of heavy bombardment, involving more than 80 fighter jets. The attacks were aimed largely at Tehran and the city’s Mehrabad airport.
Gulf states including Saudi Arabia and the UAE are continuing to repel retaliatory strikes from Iran, a week into the war.
Welcome to Saturday’s live Irish Times coverage of the war in the Middle East.
Overnight, Iran’s president rejected a demand by US president Donald Trump for his country’s unconditional surrender and apologised for Iran’s attacks on regional countries.
Trump called for Iran’s “unconditional surrender” on Friday, a dramatic escalation of his demands a week into the war the US has launched alongside Israel.
In a pre-recorded address aired by Iranian state television, president Masoud Pezeshkian said the US demand is a “dream that they should to take to their grave”.
He also apologised for Iran’s attacks on regional countries, insisting that Tehran would halt them and suggesting they were caused by miscommunication in the ranks.
The comments came as intense Iranian fire targeted the Gulf Arab states on Saturday morning as Israel and the United States kept up their air strikes targeting the Islamic Republic.
There were repeated attacks on Saturday morning on Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Read more here.
