Iran Responds: Targeting American Bases in Arab Countries and Locations Within Israel with Ballistic Missiles
Following the extensive American-Israeli missile strikes that hit deep inside Iran early on Saturday, February 28, 2026, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched a retaliatory military operation named “Sincere Promise 4.” This involved a series of ballistic missile barrages and suicide drones aimed at a wide array of American military bases and critical sites within Israel.
The Iranian response became evident with the sound of sirens at the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar and Al Dhafra Air Base in the UAE. Field reports confirmed explosions resulting from attempts to intercept Iranian missiles targeting the significant American military presence there. The response also hit the Al Udeid and Ali Al Salem bases in Kuwait, alongside a direct strike on the U.S. Fifth Fleet headquarters in Al Jufair, Bahrain, prompting maximum alert at all military bases in the region and an immediate closure of airspace in Gulf countries, Iraq, and Jordan.
On the other front, Israeli airspace witnessed unprecedented defensive activity as swarms of Iranian drones and missiles targeted strategic areas from the Galilee in the north to Beersheba and the Dimona region in the south. The sounds of explosions were heard from aerial interceptions over Jerusalem, the West Bank, and eastern Negev settlements.
This mutual escalation has turned the region into an open warzone, especially with Tehran declaring that its response will not be limited to military sites but will also include any country that provides facilities for attacks against it. This has led to a complete paralysis of civilian air traffic in the region and the intensive activation of Patriot and THAAD air defense systems to counter the ongoing Iranian missile barrages, with reports of material losses in some air bases from which attacking aircraft launched earlier that day.
