US troops killed during Iran operation

Nearly empty highways are seen in Dubai on Sunday.

Dubai was almost unrecognizable on Sunday.

On a winter weekend – peak tourist season – the city’s beaches, malls and hotel brunches would normally be full. Instead, highways were largely empty and the sky was clear of the constant stream of arriving and departing aircraft. Dubai Marine, normally filled with yachts and boat parties, sat unsually still.

For many residents, it felt like a return to the Covid-19 lockdowns six years ago, when one of the world’s busiest transit hubs abruptly fell silent. Schools in the city have once again shifted online, and families are staying indoors.

“We feel like it’s Covid days. Quiet, sunny, birds chirping and no sounds of traffic or planes flying,” said Paul Devitt, a CNN videographer in Abu Dhabi.

Some residents made quick trips to supermarkets to stock up. Grocery delivery apps reported delays as demand surged. In neighborhoods that are usually crowded well into the evening, streets were empty.

People go to a beach in Dubai on Sunday.

With the UAE’s airspace closed, some people drove to quieter parts of the country. In Hatta, near the Omani border, at least one hotel turned a conference room into a makeshift shelter for tourists who had checked out but were unable to fly home. Some newly arrived guests said they were moving their families away from parts of Dubai that had come under attack.

Others crossed into Oman by road, at least initially the only country in the region untouched by Saturday’s Iranian strikes. On Sunday, however, Omani authorities said two drones had targeted a port there.

Dubai, a city that prides itself on safety and stability, has no public bomb shelters. Many residents instead spent Saturday night in underground parking garages. Parents shielded anxious children from the reality of the explosions overhead.

Several told their young sons and daughters that the blasts were Ramadan fireworks or cannons, traditionally fired at iftar time in Muslim countries.

Eleni Giokos contributed to this report.

Firemen and rescue workers inspect the site of an explosion at the Fairmont The Palm Hotel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

One of the most striking images from the barrage was the sunset drone strike on the Fairmont hotel on Palm Jumeirah, the man-made island that is home to five-star hotels and some of the city’s wealthiest residents.

By evening, police had sealed off the area as crews swept shattered glass from the street. Part of the building’s facade was blackened and visibly damaged.

Derek Thompson, a Scottish tourist staying at the hotel, said he and his family were eating dinner around 6:30 p.m. Saturday when they heard what he described as an enormous explosion.

“It was an absolutely crazy explosion, and we just ran for cover,” he said. “We thought another one was coming, so we went to the beach to get away from the buildings, which we thought could collapse.”

After returning to their room and smelling smoke, the family packed and checked out early. With the airspace closed, leaving the country was no longer an option.

Palm Jumeirah, seen here in 2023, are artificial islands in Dubai.

Thompson said he had followed tensions in the region but never imagined Dubai would be directly hit. His wife, Victoria, a frequent visitor to the city, described the experience as terrifying and said she is now unsure when she would feel comfortable returning.

Melissa Nicol, a visitor from Spain, was about to fly out of Dubai when the airspace closed and she was turned back from the airport. She checked into the Five hotel, just steps from the Fairmont. After the Fairmont was struck, sirens sounded and guests were evacuated to the basement, where they spent the night.

Kim Kelaita contributed to this report.

OPEC+ nations, meeting virtually Sunday, agreed to increase oil production slightly as a new wave of strikes bombard Iran and the surrounding region.

The group of leading oil-producing nations said it would raise its daily output by 206,000 barrels a day after pausing incremental production increases earlier in the year. In the fourth quarter, OPEC boosted production by 137,000 barrels per day.

The group, in a statement, did not mention the conflict, but said it will continue to assess market conditions.

Some context: The production increase may somewhat blunt the expected surge in oil prices when the futures market opens Sunday evening, but energy analysts didn’t expect the production increases to do much to keep prices in check.

Iran has struck many of its neighbors, but so far it hasn’t attacked other countries’ oilfields and refineries as it has in the past. Oil will probably move higher on Sunday evening on the risk of reduced Middle East supply, Pickering said. But if that disruption actually happens, prices could easily top $80 a barrel, up from around $70 on Friday when the market closed.

Another factor: The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow passageway through which 20% of the world’s oil flows. Iran controls the northern coast of the strait, and shipping through the pinch point has been effectively reduced to a trickle. It’s not clear how long traffic will be disrupted. But that might not matter.

“Oil doesn’t need to be physically halted for prices to move sharply,” noted Nigel Green, founder and chief executive of deVere Group. “Insurance costs, shipping reroutes and precautionary stockpiling alone can tighten supply expectations.”

Analysts don’t expect OPEC to increase production much more, even if prices surge: The oil-producing countries don’t have much spare capacity left after raising output throughout 2025.

Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, Israel pictured nearly empty on Saturday.

After Israel launched its strikes on Iran yesterday morning, it quickly declared a state of emergency in expectation of retaliation, closing its airspace to stop any planes from leaving or entering the country.

This meant that many Israelis who were set to depart the country instead had to turn around and go back home, including Shy Nir, the niece of a CNN producer, who was supposed to fly to Athens, Greece for a vacation with her father yesterday morning.

Nir told CNN that she was already seated on the plane, which was expected to depart at 8:35 a.m. local time (1:35 a.m. ET) when sirens went off 20 minutes before her departure time. Passengers were evacuated from the plane and taken to a hangar, she said.

Once airline staff realized that an attack was not yet underway, passengers were initially let back onto the plane, but “a few seconds later, we were told there was no clearance to depart after all,” Nir said.

“They took us off the plane again and told us we had to leave the airport because the terminal would be locked within 40 minutes,” she added.

When asked if she would have preferred to fly to Greece and potentially get stuck there, or have her flight canceled from the start, Nir, who is 17, told CNN: “It’s a bummer that we didn’t manage to take off for Greece.”

The Strait of Hormuz, a major shipping route between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, is facing a fresh day of disruption amid ongoing strikes across the Middle East.

⁠Due to the security situation in ⁠the ‌region, German ⁠shipping group Hapag-Lloyd suspended all ⁠vessel transit through the Strait until further ⁠notice, ⁠it said today, according to Reuters news agency.

The waterway is only 21 miles wide at its narrowest point. It’s the only way to ship crude from the oil-rich Persian Gulf to the rest of the world.

Oman’s maritime security center said Sunday that an oil tanker, called “Skylight,” was attacked about five nautical miles off the coast of Masandam in Oman, injuring four people.

Later in the day, Iran’s semi-official Mehr News Agency reported that a tanker, which was struck after attempting an “unauthorized passage through the Strait of Hormuz,” is now said to be sinking after sustaining damage. It is not clear if the tanker is the one referenced by Omani authorities or not.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said “no official closure of the Strait of Hormuz has been formally communicated to the maritime industry through recognised maritime safety channels.”

But it said there is “ongoing regional military activity contributing to elevated threat to commercial shipping.”

UKMTO also said it had received reports of two “incidents” off the coast of Oman. It said one vessel 50 nautical miles north of Muscat had reportedly been struck by an “unknown projectile,” resulting in a brief fire in the control room. Another vessel two nautical miles off the coast was evacuated after an “incident.”

The number of people killed in a blast that hit a girls’ school in the southern Iranian city of Minab during joint US-Israeli strikes has risen to 148, with 95 more wounded, according to the local prosecutor.

CNN has geolocated video from the scene to the Shajaba Tayyiba School, which sits about 200 feet (61 meters) from an Iranian military base.

The school appears to have been previously part of the base, but satellite imagery shows that the two sites have been separated since at least 2016.

People and rescue forces work following an Israel strike on a school in Minab, Iran, February 28, 2026.

Iranian state media previously reported that the number of girls killed was at least 118.

Asked about the strike, CENTCOM spokesperson Tim Hawkins said “we are aware of reports concerning civilian harm resulting from ongoing military operations. We take these reports seriously and are looking into them. The protection of civilians is of utmost importance, and we will continue to take all precautions available to minimize the risk of unintended harm.”

CNN has also approached the Israeli military for comment.

Widespread travel disruption to and from the Middle East continued today as airlines cancel flights through key regional hubs that have become the target of Iranian retaliation for hosting US military bases.

Gulf carrier Etihad Airways said this morning that its operations continue to be affected, with flights suspended to and from Abu Dhabi until tomorrow, in light of regional airspace closures impacting services. The United Arab Emirates yesterday implemented a partial closure of its airspace.

Qatar Airways, another Gulf airline, said in an update today that its flight operations remain temporarily suspended due to the closure of Qatari airspace. It added that a further update would be given tomorrow.

Other notable airlines that have cancelled flights include Lufthansa, Air France, British Airways, Air India and Turkish Airlines.

Lufthansa has announced the suspension of flights to Tel Aviv, Beirut, Amman, Erbil and Tehran until March 7, citing the current situation in the Middle East.

Passengers stranded by the closure of Dubai International Airport await for assistance in the airport parking lot in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on March 1, 2026.

Flights are not currently operating to and from Dubai, a popular tourist hotspot, after Dubai airports yesterday shuttered operations at its main airports.

Footage yesterday showed passengers rushing to evacuate smoke-filled passageways at Dubai International after a reported Iranian strike.

Overall, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Israel, Bahrain and Qatar have closed their airspaces while neighboring countries have also implemented restrictions. Live tracking from FlightRadar24 shows airlines have been forced to reroute and cancel services.

The closure of Iran’s airspace has now been extended until at least Tuesday, with further extensions possible, in a a new “Notice to Airmen,” FlightRadar24 showed.

Flight tracking website FlightAware showed that a total of 7,716 flights have been delayed and 2,280 have been cancelled globally today as of 6 a.m. ET.

A CNN team on the ground heard in Dubai three loud blasts on Sunday morning. Another series of loud explosions followed minutes later.

No injuries have been reported so far and it is not clear if anywhere has been struck by incoming fire following the new explosions.

Residents waking up in Dubai reported thick plumes of black smoke over the Jebel Ali port area from earlier overnight strikes.

Debris from an aerial interception over Dubai’s Business Bay caused a fire the city’s major commercial port, authorities said, hours before the newest explosions were reported.

“Dubai authorities confirm that debris resulting from an aerial interception caused a fire at one of the berths at Jebel Ali Port,” Dubai’s media office said in a post on social media.

“Dubai Civil Defense teams responded immediately and are continuing their efforts to fully extinguish the fire. No injuries have been reported.”

The city also saw a drone strike near the Fairmont Hotel in Dubai’s high-end Palm Jumeirah on Saturday, which caused a large explosion and fire. And footage showed people fleeing a smoke-filled passageway at Dubai International Airport, where officials confirmed Saturday that four staff had been injured.

US President Donald Trump has crossed “a very dangerous red line” by killing Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, the Iranian deputy foreign minister Saeed Khatibzadeh told CNN in an exclusive interview today.

Khatibzadeh said many Shiite followers across the world will react to the killing of Khamenei.

“Of course, from a religious aspect, he was a great religious leader, so many of Shiite followers across the region and around the world are going to react to that, and this is very obvious because President Trump passed a very dangerous red line,” Khatibzadeh said.

“We have no option but to respond,” he added.

The official said that Iran had communicated with Gulf Arab states to shut down US bases which Tehran considers a threat.

“We communicated with them: either to shut down those American bases that are constantly threatening Iran and are constantly using to offend on Iran, or we have no option just to push back,” he said.

Iran “cannot reach out to American soil, so we have no option just to attack any bases which is under US jurisdiction,” he added.

Asked whether diplomacy is still an option, he said the US has “disappointed” Iran several times and there was “no necessity to start this aggression.”

“If President Trump didn’t want to see Iran hitting back … President Trump should have not started this war from the beginning,” the official said. “It was a war of choice.”

Video shows smoke rising vicinity of Crowne Plaza hotel in Manama

00:02 • Source: CNN

Video shows smoke rising vicinity of Crowne Plaza hotel in Manama

00:02

It has been more than a day since the United States and Israel launched strikes on cities across Iran, which we have since learned killed the country’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei, alongside several members of his family as well as other powerful Iranian officials.

Tehran retaliated by launching attacks towards multiple countries in the region, which have continued into today. CNN teams have reported blasts in several capitals and major cities this morning, including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Bahrain’s Manama.