CAIRO (AP): Gulf Arab states reported new missile and drone attacks on Sunday after Iran threatened to widen its campaign and further expand the war with the United States and Israel , now in its third week.
Israel and the U.S. attacked Iran on Feb. 28, saying they were striking nuclear and military sites and encouraging the Iranian people to rise against their leaders. Iran has responded with attacks against Israel and neighboring states in the Persian Gulf.
The war, which shows no signs of ending soon, has upended global air travel, disrupted oil exports from the region and sent fuel prices rising across the world.
Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates warned residents on Sunday that they were working to intercept incoming projectiles, a day after Iran called for the evacuations of three major UAE ports, threatening for the first time a neighboring country’s non-U.S. assets .
Iran had earlier accused the U.S. of using "ports, docks and hideouts” in the UAE to launch strikes on Kharg Island , home to the main terminal handling Iran’s oil exports, without providing evidence for the claim.
The UAE and other Gulf countries that host U.S. bases have denied allowing their land or airspace to be used for military operations against Iran.
Iranian strikes have killed at least a dozen civilians in the Gulf states, most of them migrant workers. In Iran, the International Committee for the Red Cross said more than 1,300 people have been killed so far. Iran's Health Ministry says 223 women and 202 children are among those killed, according to Mizan, the judiciary's official news agency.
In Israel, 12 people were killed by Iranian missile fire, the national rescue service Magen David Adom said. At least 13 members of the U.S. military have also been killed since the war began, including six who died in a plane crash in Iraq last week.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he hoped allies would send warships to secure the Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s humanitarian crisis deepened, with over 820 people killed there, according to the Ministry of Health, and 850,000 displaced since Iran-backed Hezbollah started hitting Israel and Israel responded with strikes and sent additional troops into southern Lebanon.
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said the U.S. attacked Kharg Island and Abu Musa Island from two locations in the UAE - Ras Al Khaimah and a place "very close to Dubai" - calling the escalation dangerous and saying Iran "will try to be careful not to attack any populated area” there.
U.S. Central Command said it had no response to Iran’s claim.
Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, rejected Iranian claim that the U.S. used Emirati land or air space for its attacks on Kharg Island.
Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Gulf neighbors - Bahrain, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman - during the war .
It says it targets U.S. assets, even as Iranian strikes are reported at civilian sites such as airports and oil fields. Though their air defenses have intercepted most, the war has caused significant damage and rattled their economies in Gulf states.
Meanwhile, Araghchi told the London-based Al-Araby al-Jadeed on Sunday that Iran is ready to consider any proposal that includes "a complete end” to the war and said mediation efforts were ongoing between Iran and its neighbors to de-escalate.
He gave no indication on whether progress has been made.
As global anxiety soars over oil prices and supplies , Trump said Saturday that he hopes China, France, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and others send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz "open and safe.” It was unclear if any planned to satisfy his request.
In Europe, which relies heavily on oil and gas imports from the Gulf, Britain responded by saying it was discussing with allies a "range of options” to secure shipping.
Araghchi, in a social media post, urged neighbors to "expel foreign aggressors” and described Trump’s call as "begging.”
Iran’s joint military command has reiterated its threat to attack U.S.-linked "oil, economic and energy infrastructures” in the region if the Islamic Republic’s oil infrastructure is hit.
The U.N. migration agency said Sunday that deteriorating conditions in Iranian cities were pushing many Iranians to northern provinces for safety.
The International Organization for Migration said Iranians are also fleeing to neighboring countries, including nearly 32,000 to Afghanistan and nearly 4,000 to Pakistan, even though airports and most border crossings - especially with Iraq - are closed.
After earlier wars - including in Syria and Afghanistan - sparked refugee crises that stretched resources and polarized politics in Europe, Turkey and North Africa, neighboring states worry the Iran war could again force large numbers of people from their homes.
The U.S. Department of Defense on Saturday identified six service members who died when the military refueling aircraft they were aboard crashed Thursday while supporting operations against Iran.
The service members were Maj. John A. Klinner, 33; Capt. Ariana G. Savino, 31; Tech. Sgt. Ashley B. Pruitt, 34; Capt. Seth R. Koval, 38; Capt. Curtis J. Angst, 30; and Tech. Sgt. Tyler H. Simmons, 28, according to U.S. officials.
The crash in western Iraq followed an unspecified incident involving two aircraft in "friendly airspace,” according to U.S. Central Command. The other plane landed safely.
-- Metz reported from Ramallah, West Bank, and Magdy from Cairo. Associated Press writers Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut and Tia Goldenberg in Washington contributed to this report.
