Video: Shiraz air base reportedly targeted in strike

The UAE’s air defenses engaged 23 ballistic missiles and 56 drones launched from Iran on Saturday, the defense ministry said.

It said that since the start of Iran’s attacks, its forces had engaged 498 ballistic missiles, 23 cruise missiles and 2,141 drones.

The ministry said two members of the armed forces and a Moroccan civilian contractor had been killed so far, along with 10 foreign nationals, who were Pakistani, Nepali, Bangladeshi, Palestinian and Indian, and Egyptian.

A total of 217 people were also injured, with cases ranging from minor to severe, it said.

The injured included nationals of the UAE, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, the Philippines, Pakistan, Iran, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Azerbaijan, Yemen, Uganda, Eritrea, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Comoros, Turkey, Iraq, Nepal, Nigeria, Oman, Jordan, Palestine, Ghana, Indonesia, Sweden, Tunisia, Morocco, and Russia, according to the statement.

The ministry said it remained ready to confront any threats to the country’s security and sovereignty.

Israel’s military said on Saturday that it carried out a new wave of strikes targeting command centers linked to Iran’s Gurads Quds Force in Beirut.

The IDF said it struck a facility used by the Quds Force’s Lebanon Corps, which it described as coordinating between Hezbollah and Iran, and also hit two headquarters used by senior officials of Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

The Israeli Navy also targeted a Hezbollah observation post, the military added.

The Israeli military said on Saturday it struck a day earlier command centers in Beirut belonging to the Quds Force’s Lebanon corps, which serves as a link between Iran and Hezbollah.

The Quds Force’s Lebanon Corps “serves as a liaison between Hezbollah and the Iranian terror regime and supports Hezbollah’s force buildup and military entrenchment,” the Israel Defense Forces said.

The IDF also said it struck two Palestinian Islamic Jihad headquarters, used for coordination with Hezbollah, and a Hezbollah observation post.

Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran had never refused to travel to Islamabad for talks with the US on the conflict and thanked Pakistan for its efforts.

“Iran’s position is being misrepresented by US media. We are deeply grateful to Pakistan for its efforts and have never refused to go to Islamabad,” Araghchi wrote on X on Saturday.

Electricity to all petrochemical facilities in Mahshahr was cut after strikes hit Fajr units 1 and 2, Iranian state media reported.

Managers at Persian Gulf Fajr Energy said turbines at the units were knocked offline, halting power supply, affecting plants that provide key feedstock and fuel.

The disruption follows earlier US warnings it could expand its targets if Iran continued to disrupt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.