Iranian attacks against Gulf States have persisted, even after President Masoud Pezeshkian promised not to do so, according to a report from the Institute for the Study of War.
Two Iranian drones struck targets within the United Arab Emirates between Friday afternoon and Saturday morning Eastern time, according to the report. Dubai International Airport, the busiest airport in the world, was one of the targets.
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Saudi Arabia was also targeted, per the report, as Iran attempted to strike U.S. military bases and Saudi energy and civilian infrastructure, but Saudi forces intercepted eight drones and a ballistic missile, according to the country’s defense ministry.
Despite the recent strikes, Pezeshkian said Saturday in a televised address that Iran aims to work “hand‑in‑hand with our dear brothers and neighbors in the region to establish lasting peace and stability, and we hope this goal will be achieved,” according to a translation from Iranian media.
After President Donald Trump called for nothing short of “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER” on Friday, Pezeshkian said Iran’s enemies “will take that dream to the grave.”
In his own statement, the Iranian foreign minister cast blame on Donald Trump’s administration “for any intensification of Iran’s exercise of self-defense.” That followed the president’s Truth Social post in which he said Iran “will be hit very hard” on Saturday.
The continued strikes come one week after the United States launched Operation Epic Fury, an effort that the Trump administration claims is to “eliminate the threat of the Iranian regime once and for all.”
Other takeaways from the ISW report include that U.S. and Israeli forces have targeted Basij bases in Tehran to “degrade the regime’s ability to maintain domestic control.”
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“Commercially available satellite imagery shows that the combined force has targeted at least nine of the 23 Basij regional bases in Tehran as of March 6,” according to the ISW report.
The Basij, a paramilitary volunteer militia under the umbrella of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, is tasked with maintaining societal control. In his first remarks after the war began, Trump urged Iranians to “take over your government.”