Dubai, Abu Dhabi News Updates: Trump says Iran war largely over, nuclear threat eliminated

Donald Trump said that if he had not terminated the Iran nuclear deal negotiated under former president Barack Obama, the world could have faced a nuclear war years earlier. He described the agreement as “horrible”, arguing it would have allowed Iran to move towards acquiring nuclear weapons.

He added that without US military action, including strikes on Iranian sites, the threat would have persisted. “You would have had a nuclear holocaust, and you would have had it again if we didn’t bomb the site,” Trump said, portraying the conflict as a necessary step to eliminate that risk.

A drone targeted the US embassy in Baghdad, with an explosion heard nearby, according to security sources cited by Reuters.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday held talks with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on the current situation in West Asia and the Strait of Hormuz. In a post on X, PM Modi said that he reiterated India’s strong condemnation of all attacks on the UAE that led to civilian deaths and damage to infrastructure.

Donald Trump said the war involving Iran is “largely over”, claiming US military operations had dismantled the country’s core defences and eliminated its immediate nuclear threat. He described the conflict as a swift and decisive campaign that could have been concluded within days.

“Iran is just a military operation to me. Iran is something that was essentially largely over in two or three days,” he said. He added that Iran’s navy was “wiped out almost immediately”, followed by its air force and then its anti aircraft systems, leaving the country exposed.

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that most of the United States’ NATO allies have told Washington they do not want to be involved in its military operation in Iran, according to a post on Truth Social, despite agreeing that Tehran must not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons.

One person was killed and nine others were wounded in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut’s Airport Road, the Lebanese Health Ministry’s emergency operations centre said.

“What I want more than anything is for Europeans to regain control of their own destiny,” French President Emmanuel Macron said, as he prepared France for what he described as an “age of nuclear weapons” amid the escalating US Israel war with Iran.

Netanyahu said Israel is working to undermine the Iranian regime in the hope of giving the people an opportunity to remove it. He added that such a change would not happen all at once and would not be easy, but sustained efforts could allow people to take their fate into their own hands.

He also said Israel is supporting its American allies in the Gulf, both indirectly and through direct actions, adding that there are many more surprises ahead.

UAE air defences intercepted 10 ballistic missiles and 45 drones launched from Iran on March 17, 2026. Since the start of the attacks, the country’s air defence systems have dealt with a total of 314 ballistic missiles, 15 cruise missiles and 1,672 drones.

The attacks have resulted in the deaths of 2 members of the armed forces while on duty, along with 6 civilians of Pakistani, Nepalese, Bangladeshi and Palestinian nationalities. A total of 157 people have been injured, with wounds ranging from minor to severe, including individuals of Emirati, Egyptian, Sudanese, Ethiopian, Filipino, Pakistani, Iranian, Indian, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Azerbaijani, Yemeni, Ugandan, Eritrean, Lebanese, Afghan, Bahraini, Comorian, Turkish, Iraqi, Nepalese, Nigerian, Omani, Jordanian, Palestinian, Ghanaian, Indonesian, Swedish and Tunisian nationalities.

Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has rejected proposals to reduce tensions or agree to a ceasefire with the United States, according to a report by Reuters.

A senior Iranian official said on Tuesday that the proposals had been conveyed to Tehran by two intermediary countries. The official added that Khamenei’s position on seeking retaliation against the United States and Israel was “very tough and serious” during his first foreign policy session, though it was not clear whether he attended in person.

Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, has rejected media reports claiming that the country’s new Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, is undergoing medical treatment in Moscow.

According to Russia’s state run TASS news agency, Jalali dismissed the claims, denying that Khamenei is receiving any such treatment in the Russian capital.

Lebanon’s army said two of its soldiers were seriously wounded after an Israeli airstrike on Tuesday morning on the village of Kfar Sir.

The Israeli military says it conducted a combined wave of strikes against infrastructure in Tehran, Shiraz and Tabriz on Monday. The military said the strikes in Tehran hit command centers, launch sites and air defense systems.

In Shiraz, the internal security forces’ command center and a ballistic missile site were hit. In Tabriz, the strikes “dismantled” additional air defense systems, the military said.

The speaker of Iran's parliament told Iranian state television that the Strait of Hormuz cannot be "as it was before" as Iranian fire keeps nearly all traffic out of the strategic waterway. Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf made the comment in an interview aired Tuesday as Iranian fire continues to target shipping in the region. "They are flying, launching missiles, should we just sit back and do nothing in response, or not? Naturally, it is our undeniable right. We must do this," Qalibaf said.

"Certainly, from now on, with the interventions that have taken place, the strait can no longer be, from a legal standpoint and in terms of transit, as it was before," Qalibaf said. "It no longer has the necessary security. It does not have the necessary security."

The strait typically sees 20% of all oil and natural gas traded pass through it.

A fire broke out in an industrial area in Qatar on Tuesday after an incoming missile was intercepted, the interior ministry said.

A Pakistani man was killed Tuesday morning in a missile attack on the United Arab Emirates capital Abu Dhabi, authorities say. The Abu Dhabi Media Office said  the man was killed when shrapnel fell in the Bani Yas area while air defenses were intercepting a ballistic missile. The death toll in the UAE since the start of the war is now at eight people including two soldiers, according to authorities.

The LPG carrier Nanda Devi has reached mid-sea waters near the Deendayal Port Authority's Vadinar terminal, where its entire cargo of 47,000 tonnes of LPG is being transferred to another vessel through ship-to-ship operations. The receiving vessel will subsequently transport the consignment, offloading half at Ennore Port and the remaining half at Haldia Port.

Meanwhile, the LPG carrier Shivalik, currently docked at Mundra Port, is set to discharge 12,000 tonnes of LPG at the port before proceeding towards the Vadinar mid-sea zone. Later in the evening, it will transfer its remaining cargo to another vessel at sea, which will then deliver the stock to Dahej Port and two separate terminals in Mangalore.

(Input: Nirnay Kapoor)

The Ministry of Defence in the United Arab Emirates has confirmed that the nation's air protection units are currently engaged in repelling incoming missiles and drones launched from Iran. Providing context to the ongoing situation, the ministry explained that the loud sounds heard across the area are the result of "air defence systems intercepting missiles and drones."

Three explosions echoed across Dubai after a missile alert early on Tuesday, according to an AFP correspondent. The blasts followed a mobile phone alert to residents to "immediately seek a safe place" over "potential missile threats".

Several explosions were heard in Doha on Tuesday, an AFP journalist said, a day after several blasts resounded across the Qatari capital. Qatar, like several Gulf nations, has been targeted by drones and missiles in the last days as Tehran presses a retaliatory campaign over attacks by the United States and Israel on Iran.

A tanker anchored off the UAE's eastern coat was hit by a projectile early Tuesday morning as the nation came under several waves of Iranian attacks. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center, run by the British military, reported the attack, saying the vessel was in the Gulf of Oman off Fujairah.

It said the tanker sustained 'minor structural damage' and no one was hurt.

Since the Iran war started, some 20 vessels in the region have come under attack as Iranian fire effectively halts traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20% of all oil and natural gas traded passes.

US President Donald Trump stated that he does not believe Israel would resort to using a nuclear weapon in its ongoing conflict with Iran. Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said he brushed aside any such move by Israel in the future. "Israel wouldn't do that... Israel would never do that," he said, according to CNN. His remarks followed comments by the White House artificial intelligence and crypto czar, David Sacks, who recently indicated in an interview that concerns existed over potential escalation. According to CNN, Sacks had said, "You have to worry about Israel escalating the war by contemplating using a nuclear weapon." READ

US President Donald Trump has said that the ongoing conflict involving Iran would end soon, saying the situation would be "wrapped up" shortly and would ultimately result in a safer world. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said that the war could be "wrapped up soon", adding, "It won't be long. And we're going to have a much safer world when it's wrapped up. It'll be wrapped up soon. We're going to have a much safer world. I had an obligation to do this. I didn't want to" Trump said.

A drone strike caused a fire at a major oil field in the United Arab Emirates, authorities said, as Iran continued its drone and missile strikes across the Gulf. Authorities in the emirate of Abu Dhabi said they were still responding to the fire at the Shah oil field, without reporting injuries.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent wishes to Iranians for the coming Nowruz holidays, marking the Persian new year. "This year this holiday has special meaning...I take this opportunity to wish you a happy Nowruz -- a year of freedom. A new beginning of hope to all of you," he added, referring to the holiday that will be celebrated Friday.

US President Donald Trump demanded that US allies help secure the Strait of Hormuz, but European powers pushed back on a possible mission to reopen the vital waterway shut by Iran in response to US-Israeli attacks. Trump criticised the lukewarm response to his call for world powers to send warships to escort tankers through the strait, which normally carries a fifth of global crude oil, demanding nations "get involved quickly and with great enthusiasm".
 

A drone and rocket attack targeted the US embassy in Baghdad early Tuesday, a security official said. The security official said that "three drones and four rockets attacked the embassy, with at least one drone crashing inside it".

An air strike targeting a house in Baghdad's Jadiriya district has killed four people and has left several others wounded.

The United Arab Emirates lifted a brief airspace closure Tuesday morning after the country faced incoming Iranian attacks. The state-run WAM news agency quoted the UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority as saying the closure had ended. Earlier Tuesday, Dubai authorities said "sounds heard in various areas of the city are the result of successful interceptions." They did not elaborate.

Shortly after reopening the UAE's airspace, authorities sent a missile warning alert to people in Dubai.

Israel's military said it has begun a "wide scale wave of strikes" across Tehran, minutes after sounding the alarm about the second incoming missiles launch from Iran since midnight Monday into Tuesday. Israel's military added that it was also striking Hezbollah infrastructure in Beirut overnight.