MANAMA: Bahrain’s Ministry of Health said Monday that an Iranian drone attack targeting the Gulf nation’s island of Sitra overnight wounded 32 civilians.
All of the injured were Bahraini citizens, with four reported to be in serious condition, including children, the ministry said in a statement carried by the country’s state news agency.
The attack came as Iran continued retaliatory strikes against Israel and US military assets across the Gulf region, including targets in Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Iran had earlier warned that the United States would “pay” for launching attacks on the country. The latest strikes were carried out despite Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian saying on Saturday that Tehran would halt attacks on Gulf states as long as their territories were not used for military operations against Iran.
Meanwhile, the United States and Israel have continued large-scale strikes across Iran, hitting military facilities and, for the first time, oil storage depots and refining infrastructure.
Late on Saturday, local media footage showed a massive fire at the Shahran oil depot on the outskirts of Tehran. The Israeli military later claimed responsibility for the strike, saying it targeted fuel storage facilities allegedly linked to the Iranian armed forces.
The conflict, which began on February 28, has now entered its second week. At least 1,332 people have been reported killed since the United States and Israel launched their attacks on Iran.
The war has also shaken global markets and energy supplies, pushing oil prices to multiyear highs as shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has been severely disrupted.
In the first week of the conflict alone, the price of Brent crude surged by 27 percent — the largest weekly increase since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
