March 8, 2026: 23 Marina building damaged by drone Debris in Dubai’s Marina<\/p>\n
Emma Graham, CNBC<\/p>\n
Gulf states reported more damage to infrastructure over the weekend as Iran continues to attack regional allies in retaliation for ongoing strikes by U.S. and Israeli forces.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Iranian media<\/a> said a new leader has been appointed, replacing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the opening salvos of the war.<\/p>\n The United Arab Emirates said it was “dealing with incoming missile and drone threats from Iran.”<\/p>\n “UAE air defences are currently responding to incoming missile and drone threats from Iran,” the country’s Ministry of Defense said in a post<\/a> on X.<\/p>\n It said its defenses were intercepting ballistic missiles while fighter jets were tackling drones and “loitering munitions.”<\/p>\n On Saturday evening, alarms rang out across Dubai and Abu Dhabi, warning residents to “immediately seek a safe place” due to missile threats, and CNBC’s team confirmed hearing a loud explosion. <\/p>\n A high-rise building in Dubai’s Marina area, 23 Marina, was hit by falling debris. According<\/a> to Dubai’s Media Office, no one was injured, but authorities confirmed<\/a> that “debris from an aerial interception fell onto a vehicle in the Al Barsha area, resulting in the death of a Pakistani driver.”<\/p>\n Also on Saturday, passengers waiting for flights at\u00a0Dubai International Airport\u00a0were ushered into train tunnels. Iran said it had struck an air base in the United Arab Emirates. <\/p>\n Since the war started on Feb. 28, Iran has targeted several radar and air defenses in the Middle East \u2014 in Qatar, the UAE, Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia \u2014 in retaliation against U.S. and Israeli attacks,\u00a0The Wall Street Journal reported<\/a>, citing U.S. officials, military analysts and commercially available satellite images.<\/p>\n Bahrain said Sunday that a drone attack struck a water desalination plant.<\/p>\n “Iranian aggression indiscriminately attacked civilian targets and caused material damage to a water desalination plant following a drone attack,” Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior said in a post <\/a>on X.<\/p>\n In a statement to CNBC, Bahrain’s electricity and water authority said the “Iranian attack on a water desalination facility has had no impact on water supplies or water network capacity.”<\/p>\n The country also said “blatant Iranian aggression” damaged a university building in the Muharraq area, injuring three people, as missile fragments fell.<\/p>\n Elsewhere, Kuwait said two fuel depots at its international airport<\/a> were hit by drones, causing a “huge fire at one of them.” The country’s Public Institution for Social Security said its headquarters were targeted, resulting in “material damage” to the building.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Israeli and U.S. attacks on Iran have continued through the weekend.<\/p>\n Israel said it struck several fuel storage complexes belonging to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. “The strike significantly deepens the damage to the military infrastructure of the Iranian terrorist regime,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a post<\/a> on X.<\/p>\n The IDF also said it attacked<\/a> “key commanders in the IRGC’s Quds Force’s Lebanon Corps who operated in Beirut.”<\/p>\n New Iranian leader appointed<\/p>\n Iran’s Mehr news agency quoted Ayatollah Seyyed Ahmad Alam al-Huda as saying Sunday elections have been held to replace Khamenei and that a new leader has been appointed. It did not give a name.<\/p>\n “All the rumors and news that tried to pretend that the Assembly of Experts has not yet made a decision are pure lies,” al-Huda was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n Iranian state \u200bmedia reported on Saturday that two influential Iranian clerics have called for the swift selection of a new supreme leader<\/p>\n One of the clerics, Naser Makarem \u200cShirazi, a grand ayatollah who commands a broad following for his religious rulings, said an appointment was \u200bneeded swiftly to “help better organize the country’s affairs,” state media reported.<\/p>\n The calls suggest that at least some in the clerical establishment are uncomfortable with leaving a three-man council in charge \u2014 even temporarily \u2060under constitutional \u200crules \u2014 after the killing of Supreme \u2060Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.<\/p>\n The Israel Defense Forces\u00a0said Sunday it would “pursue every successor and every person who seeks to appoint a successor.”<\/p>\n “We warn all those who intend to participate in the successor selection meeting that we will not hesitate to target you either. This is a warning!” the IDF said in a post<\/a> in Farsi on X.<\/p>\n Trump has argued the U.S. should have a role in choosing the new leader, a demand Iran has rejected.<\/p>\n