Qatar’s prime minister condemned Iran’s attacks on the Gulf state in a phone call with Tehran’s foreign minister on Wednesday, the first high-level contact since the Islamic Republic launched its missile and drone operations.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, in a telephone conversation with Iranian President Abbas Aragushi, accused Iran of “harming neighboring countries and trying to drag them into a war that is not theirs,” according to a statement from Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Gulf states have shouldered much of Tehran’s response since the United States and Israel launched massive airstrikes against Iran over the weekend, and an 11-year-old girl was killed by falling debris in Kuwait on Wednesday.
Thirteen people, seven of them civilians, have been killed in the Gulf country since the war began.
The Pentagon has announced the deaths of six U.S. service members since Saturday, four of them in Kuwait.
In a telephone conversation, the Qatari prime minister called for an “immediate halt to these attacks” and said that Iran “attacked civilian areas and residential areas,” despite Araghchi’s assertion that “Iranian missile attacks are aimed at US national interests and are not targeted at the State of Qatar.”
Sheikh Mohammed added: “These attacks cannot go by without a response.”
Kuwait’s Health Ministry said that “resuscitation efforts were carried out in the ambulance while the girl was taken to the hospital,” adding that after nearly 30 minutes of attempts at Al Amiri Hospital, the girl “succumbed to her injuries.”
The United Arab Emirates and Qatar said they intercepted a barrage of Iranian drones and missiles, the UAE reported engaging three ballistic missiles and intercepted 121 of 129 drones, and Qatar said it shot down 10 drones and two cruise missiles.
– Stock price decline –
Earlier, the Kuwaiti military announced that it had detected incoming objects and was working to intercept missiles and drones in its airspace.
Bahrain said residents could register as volunteers to support war efforts in areas such as health.
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defense said two cruise missiles were intercepted over the area south of the capital Riyadh, which also includes the vast Prince Sultan Air Base, and several unmanned aircraft that entered its airspace were destroyed.
Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday it had intercepted a drone targeting its giant Ras Tanura oil refinery in the Gulf. It comes days after an attack on the facility on Monday caused a fire that forced some operations to halt.
“Initial estimates indicate that the attack was carried out by a drone and caused no damage,” the ministry said in a statement.
The Gulf War continued to cause turmoil elsewhere, with stocks in the United Arab Emirates plummeting on bourses in Dubai and Abu Dhabi following a two-day trading halt.
Dubai’s main index fell 4.7%, while the Abu Dhabi index fell nearly 2%.
Qatari authorities also announced they had dismantled two spy rings linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, state news agency reported.
“Through close surveillance, we were able to arrest 10 suspects. Seven of them were tasked with spying and gathering intelligence on critical military infrastructure in the country, and three were planning to carry out sabotage operations,” the authorities said.
Iranian missiles and drones have struck cities and infrastructure in the Gulf, upending relations with Tehran and putting neighboring countries on a path that could lead to more military conflict.
