Middle East crisis Iran attack

UK: Rockets fired in direction of Cyprus

UK defence forces have shot down drones and rockets near British forces in the Middle East, says Defence Secretary John Healey.

300 British soldiers were reportedly a few hundred metres away when Iran attacked a military facility in Bahrain, he says.

– It shows how our bases and our personnel, military and civilians, are being put at risk by a regime that is increasingly indiscriminate and uncontrolled in its attacks.

Two rockets were also reportedly fired in the direction of Cyprus, where there are British military bases.

– We do not believe they were targeting Cyprus, John Healey tells Sky News.

Konstantinos Letymbiotis, a spokesman for the Cypriot government, writes in a post on X that there is no indication that Cyprus has been threatened.


Both Iran and the US Promise the Most Powerful Response in History

Iran's Revolutionary Guards are promising an unprecedented revenge operation after the US and Israel killed the country's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

"The most devastating offensive operation in the history of the Iranian armed forces will be launched against the occupied territories and American terrorist bases shortly," the terrorist movement wrote last night, according to the BBC.

The threat is not appreciated by Donald Trump.

"They should not do it, because if they do, we will strike them with a force never seen before!" Trump writes, true to his habit of using only capital letters, on Truth Social.

Explosions continued to be heard in several places in the Middle East during the morning.

“Ultra-luxury hotel” Burj Al Arab damaged in Iranian missile attack

Dubai International Airport – described as the world's busiest – was hit by Iranian missiles fired at the United Arab Emirates on Saturday. Other landmarks in Dubai have also been damaged by shrapnel and explosions, AFP reports.

Witnesses at the luxury hotel The Palm – on the island of Palm Jumeirah – describe how they heard explosions and saw smoke rising from the building. Officials confirm that an “incident” occurred on the Palm Jumeirah, in which four people were injured.

Shrapnel from drones that were shot down reportedly hit the Burj Al Arab, described as the world's first seven-star hotel. According to official information, only the facade was damaged.

According to AFP correspondents on the spot, the missile attacks continued on Sunday. Among other things, Abu Dhabi Airport was reportedly hit, where at least one person was killed and seven were injured.

US consulate in Pakistan stormed – several dead

Hundreds of protesters have stormed the US consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, following the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, reports AP.

At least nine protesters were reported to have been killed and several others injured, police told Reuters. Most of the injured had gunshot wounds, according to a spokesman for the emergency services.

According to a journalist at the scene, a group of young people climbed over the gate and smashed windows on the consulate building. They also allegedly tried to set the consulate on fire.

- We are avenging the murder of our leader, says one protester.

Police and paramilitary forces have used batons and tear gas to disperse the crowd, a police source told AP.

Protesters have also tried to storm the Green Zone in Baghdad where the US embassy is located, reports AFP.

Journalists in the area report that security forces are in place in the Green Zone, but that protesters are trying to break in and are throwing stones, among other things. The security forces are said to have responded with tear gas.

The attacks on Iran may violate international law

The US and Israeli attacks on Iran are illegal and violate international law, says Mark Klamberg, professor of international law at Stockholm University.

– If you start from how international law is formulated, and the practice that has developed around it, then this is illegal, he tells TT.

A state may use military force against another state in self-defense. Many countries agree that an imminent attack is considered self-defense. Israel has called the attacks “preventive.”

According to Mark Klamberg, there is no support for so-called preventive self-defense in legal cases or statements from international courts. There is also no support for using force to rescue a population, which Trump has claimed is one of the reasons for the attack, he says.

– If you look at previous examples where people have tried to introduce democracy by force, it hasn't gone so well.