Strikes rocked several Gulf countries on Friday as Iran unleashed a new wave of attacks in a war that has ignited the Middle East and threatens to torpedo the world economy.
Since erupting on February 28 with the US-Israeli assault on Iran, the war has reverberated throughout the region and sparked an oil crisis.
Saudi Arabia said it intercepted and destroyed 51 drones across the kingdom, including in Riyadh, on Friday.
Iran has repeatedly launched drone and missile attacks at US bases, energy and civilian infrastructure and diplomatic sites in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states since the war began.
Drones were shot down over Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, where authorities reported intercepting one drone, followed by three and later six more in separate incidents. Air defences also intercepted drones that entered Saudi airspace from other areas, destroying seven, nine and 12 drones in three separate waves, the Ministry of Defence added.
In central Saudi Arabia, three drones were intercepted over Al Kharj and the Empty Quarter. Two more drones were destroyed in Al Kharj in a separate incident.
Saudi air defences also shot down three drones over the Eastern and Central regions, followed by four more in the same areas.
In another incident, authorities said a drone was downed while attempting to approach Riyadh’s Diplomatic Quarter, which hosts many embassies.
In Oman, two drones crashed in the port city of Sohar, a security source told state media.
One of the drones fell in the Al Awhi industrial area, killing two foreign citizens and injuring others. The second crashed in an open area without causing injuries.
Authorities said emergency teams were dealing with the incidents and have opened an investigation.
In the UAE, Dubai authorities have responded to an incident in which debris fell on to the facade of a building early on Friday after attacks from Iran were intercepted.
Dubai Media Office said no injuries were reported in what it described as a “minor incident”.
In Abu Dhabi, a safety alert was issued at 8.15am, urging residents to take shelter, as loud booms rang out over the city.
UAE Minister of State Lana Nusseibeh called on Iran to end its strikes on countries in the region and vowed that the Emirates would “bounce back”. The extent of the attacks came as a “shock”, she told the BBC in an interview published on Thursday.
Oil prices ease
The US issued a 30-day waiver for countries to buy sanctioned Russian oil and petroleum products currently stranded at sea, in what Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said was a step to stabilise global energy markets.
Oil prices eased on Friday morning in Asia after the US waiver announcement, which, Russia's presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev said, would affect 100 million barrels of Russian crude, equal to almost a day's worth of global output.
The move was the latest attempt by US President Donald Trump's administration to tame energy prices after the American and Israeli strikes on Iran paralysed shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran's new supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei on Thursday said the critical waterway should remain closed to put pressure on the US and Israel.
