The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced diversion of some flights from the Dubai international airport, one of the world’s busiest, after a drone attack sparked a fire near the facility, as Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia also reported intercepting drones and missiles.

The Dubai Media Office on Monday said civil defence teams had “successfully contained the fire resulting from impact to one of the fuel tanks in the vicinity” of the airport, noting that no injuries had been reported so far.

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Some flights were diverted to Al Maktoum international airport, the office said on X.

The Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, meanwhile, said it was temporarily suspending flights at the airport “as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of all passengers and staff”. It did not say when they expected flights to resume.

Authorities in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, are responding to “an incident involving a missile falling on a civilian vehicle in Al Bahyan area”, according to the city’s media office. The incident resulted “in one casualty of Palestinian nationality”, it said in a post on X.

The incident comes days after the city media office said two falling drones wounded four people near the airport on Wednesday.

The UAE’s Ministry of Defence has reported six deaths since the war began on February 28, including four civilians and two military personnel, who died in a helicopter crash blamed on a technical malfunction.

Iran justifies the attacks

Iran has sought to justify its attacks on Gulf countries by arguing that the presence of US military bases on their soil makes those states legitimate targets, after Israel and the US launched joint air strikes on Tehran on February 28.

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However, civilian infrastructure has also been hit, including landmarks, airports, ports and oil facilities across the Gulf.

The UAE, which normalised relations with Israel in 2020, has faced the brunt ‌of the attacks.

Iran has fired more than 1,800 missiles and drones at the UAE, more than any other country targeted by Tehran in the conflict, upending travel plans in the financial hub despite its air defence intercepting a vast majority of the projectiles.

All Gulf Arab states have been affected, reporting more ⁠than 2,000 missile and drone attacks since the war began, and have condemned Iran.

In a phone call on Monday, UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman condemned the “sinful Iranian attacks” on the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and affirmed their intention to defend their territories.

The GCC, along with the United Kingdom and Jordan, issued a joint statement condemning Iranian aggression and calling for de-escalation.

The Saudi Ministry of Defence on Monday announced that it intercepted three waves of drones in the country’s east. It said 12 drones were destroyed in the latest wave, while six were shot down before that. Another five were intercepted earlier.

The report comes after the ministry reported that it had intercepted 37 drones in the early hours of the morning.

Attacks were also reported in Qatar on Sunday night, with its Defence Ministry saying all the drones in its airspace were intercepted.

Kuwait’s international airport was also struck, with radar equipment damaged, though Iran denied responsibility for those attacks.

Meanwhile, more strikes were reported in Iran’s capital, Tehran, after Israel announced it had launched a new wave of attacks.

Al Jazeera’s Mohamed Vall said the strikes were “some of the strongest we have seen so far”.

“The Iranians are watching and are very much concerned, with over three million people already displaced from their homes due to the intense bombardments,” he said.

Nearly 1,500 civilians have already been reported killed in Iran.

The Iranian Red Crescent Society said the latest air raids on Tehran damaged one of its clinics and an aid relief post. Footage posted online by the group showed broken glass and damaged equipment strewn on the floor.

Several hospitals and other health facilities have been damaged by strikes across Iran since the US-Israel attacks began.