Authors: Maha El Dahan and Andrew Mills
DUBAI, March 1 (Reuters) – Loud explosions were heard in Dubai and Qatar’s capital Doha for a second day on Sunday and Oman was hit for the first time as U.S. and Israeli attacks on the Islamic Republic expanded retaliatory strikes against neighboring Gulf states.
Iran has said it would attack U.S. bases in the region, but it has struck a series of other targets in Gulf cities.
In Dubai, shrapnel from a drone was intercepted at two houses, injuring two people, the Dubai Media Office said in a statement.
Dubai International Airport, the landmark Burj Al Arab hotel and the man-made Palm Jumeirah were all damaged.
Thick black smoke continued to rise from the Jebel Ali port area, where a fire broke out at a berth on Sunday due to fragments of an intercepted missile.
In neighboring Oman, which faced no retaliation on Saturday, two drones attacked the commercial port of Duqm, injuring a worker, the state news agency said.
Dubai is the largest tourism and trade center in the Middle East, and its airport is one of the busiest tourist centers in the world.
Qatar’s interior ministry said on Sunday it was responding to a limited fire in an industrial area caused by fragments of an intercepted missile falling.
(Reporting by Maha El Dahan in Dubai and Andrew Mills in Doha Editing by Edmund Blair, Christian Schmollinger and David Goodman)
