DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran’s president said Saturday that a U.S. demand for an unconditional surrender is “a dream that they should take to their grave,” in a prerecorded address aired on state television.
President Masoud Pezeshkian also apologized for Iranian attacks on neighboring countries, saying Tehran would halt such strikes and suggesting recent incidents were the result of miscommunication within the armed forces. He blamed the killing of the country’s supreme leader and other top officials for a breakdown in command and control in recent days.
The remarks came as intense Iranian fire targeted Gulf Arab states early Saturday while Israel and the United States continued airstrikes against Iran. Bahraini, Saudi and United Arab Emirates territories faced repeated attacks Saturday morning.
The conflict showed no signs of abating. The U.S. administration approved a $151 million arms sale to Israel after President Donald Trump said he would not negotiate with Iran without its “unconditional surrender,” and U.S. officials warned a forthcoming bombing campaign would be the most intense yet in the weeklong war. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on television that the “biggest bombing campaign” was still to come. Iran’s U.N. ambassador said the country would “take all necessary measures” to defend itself.
Associated Press video showed explosions and smoke over western Tehran as Israel said it had begun a broad wave of strikes. The U.S. and Israel have targeted Iran’s military capabilities, leadership and nuclear program. The stated goals and timelines of the campaign have shifted at times, with U.S. officials at points suggesting they seek to topple Iran’s government or elevate new leadership.
Officials say the fighting has killed at least 1,230 people in Iran, more than 200 in Lebanon and about a dozen in Israel. Six U.S. troops have been killed.
The war widened Saturday as sirens sounded in Bahrain during Iranian attacks on the island kingdom. Saudi Arabia reported destroying drones headed for its vast Shaybah oil field and shooting down a ballistic missile launched toward Prince Sultan Air Base, which hosts U.S. forces.
In Dubai, several blasts were heard and authorities activated air defenses. Passengers at Dubai International Airport were directed into train tunnels after alerts sounded. Emirates initially suspended all flights to and from Dubai, then reversed the decision and resumed operations, prompting cheers from sheltered travelers. Officials did not immediately say whether an interception or damage occurred at the airport.
Qatar’s energy minister, Saad al-Kaabi, warned that the war could “bring down the economies of the world,” predicting a shutdown of Gulf energy exports that could lift oil to $150 a barrel. U.S. benchmark crude rose above $90 on Friday for the first time in over two years. In an analysis for Qatar-funded Al Jazeera, a regional analyst cautioned that Iran may be making “a strategic miscalculation of historic proportions” by spreading the conflict to Gulf states, potentially shifting the war into a confrontation between Iran and its Arab neighbors.
Saudi and Pakistani defense officials met Saturday to discuss stopping attacks from Iran, the Saudi Press Agency reported. Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman spoke with Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia and nuclear-armed Pakistan have a mutual defense pact that treats an attack on one as an attack on both.
Incoming missiles sent Israelis to bomb shelters across the country and loud booms were heard in Jerusalem; there were no immediate reports of casualties. Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which has led much of the fighting, answers only to the supreme leader. Israeli forces killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, at the start of the war on Feb. 28, an action Pezeshkian cited in explaining command disruptions.
Pezeshkian said Iran’s three-member leadership council had been in contact with the armed forces. “I should apologize to the neighboring countries that were attacked by Iran, on my own behalf,” he said. “From now on they should not attack neighboring countries or fire missiles at them, unless we are attacked from those countries. I think we should solve this through diplomacy.”
In Lebanon, the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah said its fighters clashed with an Israeli force that landed late Friday in eastern Lebanese mountains. Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported that at least 16 people were killed in subsequent Israeli strikes and 35 wounded. Israeli authorities did not immediately confirm the reported clash. Israel has carried out repeated airstrikes on southern Beirut suburbs, areas with large Hezbollah presence as well as many civilians. Lebanon’s Health Ministry says more than 200 people have been killed by Israeli strikes since Monday and over 800 wounded.